A Craps strategy will help player decide what bets to make, and which ones should be avoided. The house edge is everything in Craps, and knowing where the bet odds lie can easily increase a player’s profit potential, minimizing the risk of losses as much as possible. In this Craps strategy and tips guide, we’re going give our readers the top 5 craps strategies.
Craps Strategy Tip #1: To Pass or Not to Pass
The Pass Line Bet and Don’t Pass Bet are often the first wager a player makes when hitting the craps tables. Most players will automatically bet on the Pass Line. In fact, most players will tell you this is the best bet to make on a shooter’s come out roll.
If you take a look at the house edge, however, you’ll find that the Pass Line Bet has a house edge of 1.41%, while the Don’t Pass Line actually has a lower house edge of only 1.36%. It’s not much of a difference, but the focal goal of a Craps strategy is to lower the house edge as much as possible.
The only reason most players choose the Pass Lin Bet is because it means they are betting with the shooter, trusting another’s luck to pay off for them. At a live casino Craps table, those who bet against the shooter may even get some nasty looks for winning, since their win often means everyone else’s loss. But if you’re playing to win, follow the odds, not the cheers.
Craps Strategy Tip #2: Odds Bet
For those who’ve placed a Pass Line Bet, once a point is established, you should place an Odds Bet; a bet that the point will come again before a 7 is rolled. This bet offers an extremely low house edge that varies by the Odds at the craps table. Live casinos will often allow just 2x Odds, but some casinos, especially online casinos, will allow as much as 100x Odds.
The Odds are the times you can multiply your Pass Line Bet by. 20x Odds would let you increase a $1 Pass Line Bet to a $20 Odds Bet. The higher the Odds, the lower the house edge. 2x Odds present a house edge of only 0.61%, but 100x Odds drop the house edge to an incredible 0.02%.
Craps Strategy Tip #3: Hardway 7’s over Any Sevens
It is not common to place a bet on a 7 to roll, but sometimes, players feel the urge to do so. A shooter may be going on a long run of rolling without a 7 ever rolling. The longer this goes on for, the more enticing a 7’s bet is going to be to the bettor. Unfortunately, most players simply place a large wager on “Any Sevens”. If you check out the payouts, though, you’ll find that splitting your bet up into three equal portions and placing one on Hardway Seven 1+6, another on Hardway Seven 2+5 and a third on Hardway Seven 3+4, you actually stand to make a slightly better profit.
Craps Strategy Tip #4: Avoid the Bigs
There are two “Big” bets on a Craps table, known as Big 6 and Big 8. These are exactly the same as Place Bets. If the chosen number rolls before a 7, you win. However, there is one slight difference, and that’s in the payout department. Big 6 and Big 8 Bets pay even odds of 1-to-1. Place Bets on 6 or 8 will pay a little better, at 23-to-21.
Craps Strategy Tip #5: Worst House Edge
The absolute worst house edge in Craps is carried by Hardway bets on 4 (2+2) and 10 (5+5). The casino has more than an 11% advantage on these Craps bets. In terms of any casino game, those are horrible odds for the player. Don’t be sucked in by the attractive pay off on 4 and 10 Hardway bets. You’d have to be incredibly lucky to actually win.