Every craps bet with its true chance and cost per unit staked, from the pass line at 1.41% to any seven at 16.67%. Odds bets carry none.
Craps is the one table where the price varies enormously by bet. The line bets cost about a percent and a half, the odds bet behind them costs nothing, and the propositions in the middle of the layout run past sixteen percent.
| Bet | Pays | Chance | Cost per unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pass line — Resolves over come-out and point | 1:1 | — | 1.41% |
| Don't pass — Bar 12 — pushes instead of winning | 1:1 | — | 1.36% |
| Pass odds — Behind the line — paid at true odds | 1:1 | — | 0.00% |
| Place 6 or 8 — Pays 7:6 — wins on 6 (or 8) before a 7 | 1.1667:1 | 45.45% | 1.52% |
| Place 5 or 9 — Pays 7:5 | 1.4:1 | 40.00% | 4.00% |
| Place 4 or 10 — Pays 9:5 | 1.8:1 | 33.33% | 6.67% |
| Field — Pays 2:1 on 2 and 12, 1:1 on 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11 | 1:1 | 44.44% | 5.56% |
| Big 6 or Big 8 — Even money for the same event as Place 6/8 | 1:1 | 45.45% | 9.09% |
| Hard 6 or 8 — Pays 9:1 — the pair before any 7 or easy way | 9:1 | 9.09% | 9.09% |
| Hard 4 or 10 — Pays 7:1 | 7:1 | 11.11% | 11.11% |
| Any craps — Pays 7:1 — 2, 3 or 12 on the next roll | 7:1 | 11.11% | 11.11% |
| Any seven — Pays 4:1 — the worst bet on the table | 4:1 | 16.67% | 16.67% |
Most casino games charge roughly the same price whatever you bet. Craps does not. The pass line costs 1.41%, the odds bet behind it costs nothing at all, and the propositions in the centre of the layout run past 16%. The spread between the best and the worst wager on the same table is more than tenfold.
That makes craps unusually easy to play well and unusually easy to play badly, and the difference is entirely which parts of the felt you use.
Once a point is established you may back your line bet with an additional wager paid at the point’s true odds — 2:1 on four and ten, 3:2 on five and nine, 6:5 on six and eight. No margin is taken. Casinos permit it only as a multiple of the line bet, precisely because it earns them nothing.
The practical effect is to dilute the edge on your total stake. A pass line bet with full odds behind it costs a fraction of what the line alone does, because the free portion carries no charge at all.
Any seven costs 16.67% and sits in the middle of the layout where the stickman can reach it. Hardways run 9% to 11%. The Big 6 and Big 8 boxes pay even money for exactly the same event as a Place 6 or 8 that pays 7:6 — same bet, six times the price, printed in a larger box.
The field looks like good value because it covers seven of the eleven numbers. It wins on 16 of 36 rolls and costs 5.56%, because the four numbers it misses are the four that come up most.
1.41%. The don’t pass is marginally cheaper at 1.36% because the 12 pushes rather than winning.
An additional wager behind an established point, paid at true odds with no house margin. It is the only zero-edge bet on the table.
Any seven at 16.67%. The hardways and the Big 6 / Big 8 boxes follow at 9% to 11%.
No. It covers seven numbers but wins on only 16 rolls in 36 and costs 5.56%, because it misses the four most frequent totals.
Place 6. It is the same event, but Place pays 7:6 for a cost of 1.52% while Big 6 pays even money for 9.09%.