In this article, we are going to explain the basics of the House
Edge in Craps. Basically, the House Edge is what the casino expects
to make in profit for each bet made. The game of Craps has several
different bets, some that are resolved in a single roll and some
that it takes more than one roll to resolve. For the sake of simplicity,
the House Edge will be shown in terms of a per bet resolved perspective.
Since the Pass Line Bet Bet is the most used and most basic bet
in the game of Craps, and almost every player at a table will
eventually bet on it, we’ll start off with the house edge
for this bet. The house edge on the Pass Line Bet bet is only
1.41%, which, compared to other bets on the table, is pretty good.
You begin by placing your bet on the Pass Line Bet area on the
table on a Come Out Roll. If the Come Out Roll is a 7 or 11 you
win. However, if the Come Out Roll is a 2, 3, or 12 you lose.
If point is rolled right off the bat, and then again before a
7 is roll, you win. If a 7 is rolled before point is roll a second
time, you lose. The Pass Line Bet is an even money bet. Though
it is allowed, we recommend that you NEVER place a Pass Line Bet
after the Come Out Roll. We say this because the odds of winning
on the Come Out Roll are much better than those of losing on the
Come Out Roll.
There is a way to make the House Edge lean more towards your favor.
The method is called “Taking the Odds”. First, you
must place a bet on the Pass Line Bet. Then, once point has been
established, you may bet up to two times your Pass Line Bet (depending
on the casino you are playing at) on the “odds”. The
“Odds” is an additional bet that Point will be rolled
again before a 7 is rolled. Because the chance of Point being
rolled before a 7 is less than 50%, you will win more than you
wagered when it does happen. If Point is 6 or 8 the odds pay 6
to 5, if Point is 5 or 9 the odds pay 3 to 2 and if Point is 4
or 10 the odds pay 2 to 1. To make an Odds bet after a Pass Line
Bet, just put the Odds bet behind the Pass Line Bet , just outside
of the Pass Line Bet area on the side closer to you. The table
that is shown below has the House Edge when you use the Pass Line
Bet and Taking Odds:
1X odds ................ 0.848%
2X odds ................ 0.606%
Full double odds ................ 0.572%
3X odds ................ 0.471%
3-4-5X odds ................ 0.374%
5X odds ................ 0.326%
10X odds ................ 0.184%
20X odds ................ 0.099%
100X odds ................ 0.021%
