Craps Rules

What craps is and how a round works

Craps is a dice game played on a specially designed table where players bet on the outcome of the next roll of the dice. It is considered the fastest game in the casino, and for many people it is the most thrilling. It is also a pure game of chance: no skill or strategy is required to play¹.

What makes craps different from most table games is that the players roll the dice themselves. Every player gets a turn as the shooter as long as they have an active Pass or Don't Pass wager, and the honor moves clockwise around the table. The shooter keeps rolling until they roll a 7 or make their point, at which time the dice move to the next player and a new round begins¹.

A round has two phases. First comes the come-out roll, which decides most Pass Line bets on the spot. If it does not, the roll sets a point number, and the second phase begins: the shooter keeps rolling until the point or a 7 appears. We will walk through both phases below.

The table is run by a crew of four. Two dealers stand on either side of the table: they exchange cash for chips, pay out winning bets, clear losing bets, mark the point, and help players place bets in hard-to-reach spots. A boxperson sits in the middle supervising the game, and the stickperson stands across from the boxperson, calling the outcome of each roll and using a long curved stick to retrieve the dice and push them to the shooter¹.

If you want to buy in, put your cash on the table and let one of the crew know you would like chips. Do this between rolls, ideally while the dice are in front of the boxperson, not while the shooter is about to throw¹. For more on how to behave at the table, see our page on casino table etiquette.

Equipment: dice and the ON/OFF puck

The game is played with a pair of six-sided dice and an ON/OFF puck, a black-and-white disc that indicates whether a point number is set². When the puck sits white-side up on a number, that number is the point and the game is in its second phase. When it sits black-side up on the "OFF" box, the next roll is a come-out roll.

Casinos keep more dice in play than the two in use. In Macao, for example, the statutory rules call for four or five dice at the table, each with one to six pips on its faces, along with a gaming table with a dedicated box and layout and a wooden hook or equivalent device for moving the dice⁸. Each die must be of absolutely equal size and weight, with opposite faces summing to seven⁸.

Two dice give 6 times 6, which is 36 possible combinations per roll³. That number drives everything about the game: a 7 can be made six ways, more than any other total, while a 2 and a 12 can each be made only one way. The whole payout structure of craps follows from how many combinations make each total.

The come-out roll: 7 or 11 wins, 2, 3 or 12 loses

The come-out roll is the first roll of a new round. If you have a Pass Line bet down, this is the moment of truth⁴.

• 7 or 11: a "natural." Pass Line bets win immediately, paid at even money⁴.
• 2, 3 or 12: "craps." Pass Line bets lose⁴.
• Any other number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10): no one wins or loses yet. That number becomes the point and the round moves to its second phase¹.

The Don't Pass bet is the mirror image. It loses on a natural (7 or 11), wins on craps 2 or 3, and a roll of 12 is a "push," meaning no one wins or loses and your wager stays where it is⁴. After a point is set, Don't Pass wins if a 7 appears before the point is repeated⁹.

Pass Line bets are placed in the area marked "Pass Line" before the come-out roll, and Don't Pass bets go in one of the "Don't Pass" bars. If you want a turn as shooter, you are obligated to place one of these bets before the come-out roll⁴.

The point: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10

When the come-out roll lands on 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, that number becomes the point. The dealer flips the puck to ON and places it on that number so everyone can see it. Now the shooter rolls again and again until one of two things happens¹.

If you hold a Pass Line bet, you win if the point is rolled again before a 7, and you lose if a 7 comes first⁴. The payout is still even money, no matter which number is the point. The chance of making the point varies a lot: the true odds of rolling a 5 before a 7 are 2 in 5, about 40%, while a 6 or 8 comes up 5 times in 11, about 45.46%³.

This is why the odds bet exists. Once a point is set, you can put extra chips behind your Pass Line bet, and those odds are paid at the true odds of the point being made: 1 to 2 on points of 4 or 10, 2 to 3 on points of 5 or 9, and 5 to 6 on points of 6 or 8⁸. We cover this in the bet types section below.

Seven out: how the point phase ends

The point phase has only two exits. Either the shooter makes the point, and all Pass Line bets win, or a 7 appears first. Rolling a 7 before the point is called a "seven out": the round ends, Line bets lose, the puck goes back to OFF, and the dice move on to the next player, who starts a fresh come-out roll².

The shooter keeps rolling through everything in between. Numbers that are neither the point nor 7 do not end the round; they simply resolve any Come, Place or Proposition bets that happen to be on them, and the shooter throws again. This is what gives craps its rhythm: a hot shooter can keep a round alive for dozens of rolls, and the whole table wins together, which is why the game has a reputation as the most social in the casino.

Bet types: Pass Line, Don't Pass, Come, Odds, Place, Hardways and Proposition

Craps offers more than 100 betting options against the house¹⁰, but a handful of bets cover almost everything a first-time player needs. One rule of thumb worth remembering: bets on the outside portion of the table feature better odds than those in the middle⁴.

Pass Line. The basic bet of the game, described above. It wins on a come-out 7 or 11, loses on 2, 3 or 12, and after a point is set it wins if the point repeats before a 7. It pays even money⁴.

Don't Pass. The opposite bet, placed in the Don't Pass bars. It wins on a come-out 2 or 3, pushes on 12, loses on 7 or 11, and after a point it wins if a 7 comes before the point. It also pays even money⁴.

Come. A Pass Line bet you can make at any time after the come-out roll. Your chips go in the "Come" area, and the very next roll acts as a personal come-out roll for your bet: 7 or 11 wins, 2, 3 or 12 loses, and any other number becomes your "come-point." You then win if your come-point is made before the shooter rolls a 7⁴. This lets you join the action mid-round instead of waiting for the next come-out.

Don't Come. The mirror of the Come bet, placed in the Don't Come area in the top corner of the layout. It loses on 7 or 11, wins on 2 or 3, treats 12 as a push, and after a come-point is set you win if a 7 is rolled before the come-point repeats⁴.

Odds. Once you have a Pass, Don't Pass, Come or Don't Come bet in place, you can back it with an odds bet, and you can make the odds wager larger than the original bet⁴. This is the standout bet in the casino: odds bets pay out at true odds, which means there is no house edge at all⁴. On the Pass side, odds pay 1 to 2 on points of 4 or 10, 2 to 3 on 5 or 9, and 5 to 6 on 6 or 8⁸. On the Don't Pass side, the odds pay 2 to 1 on 4 or 10, 3 to 2 on 5 or 9, and 6 to 5 on 6 or 8⁸.

Place. Bets on the numbers 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 that you can make at any time after the come-out roll. You win if the number you have placed is rolled before a 7⁴. Place bets pay 1 to 1.8 on 4 or 10, 1 to 1.4 on 5 or 9, and 1 to 1.2 on 6 or 8³. Unlike Pass Line bets, they are not paid even money, because the payout is adjusted for the true odds of each number.

Hardways and Proposition. The bets in the center of the table, handled by the stickperson. Hardway bets are covered in the next section. Proposition bets are one-roll wagers on specific outcomes, such as Any 7 or the Horn, and they carry the highest house edge in craps, reaching 16% or more⁵. Players are only allowed to place chips on the bets directly in front of them, such as the Pass Line, Don't Pass, Come, Don't Come, Field and Big 6/8; bets in the numbered center squares require crew assistance¹.

Hardway bets: hard 4, hard 6, hard 8 and hard 10

A Hardway bet is a wager that a number will be made "the hard way," as a pair of equal dice. You can bet on hard 4 (two 2s), hard 6 (two 3s), hard 8 (two 4s), and hard 10 (two 5s)².

The bet wins if the pair for your number appears before the round ends. It loses on a total of 7, and it also loses if your number is made "the easy way," from two different dice, such as a 6 made from a 1 and a 5 or a 2 and a 4⁸. So a hard 6 bet survives rolls of 2, 3, 9, 11 and so on, but dies to any 7 and to any easy 6.

The payouts reflect how rare the pairs are. In Macao's statutory rules, doubles of 3 (3,3) and 4 (4,4), the hard 6 and hard 8, pay 9 times the stake, while doubles of 2 (2,2) and 5 (5,5), the hard 4 and hard 10, pay 7 times the stake⁸. European rules are similar: in Luxembourg's 1979 casino regulation, double 2 and double 5 pay 7 times the bet and double 3 and double 4 pay 9 times¹¹, and Monaco's rules pay double 2 and double 5 at eight times the stake and double 3 and double 4 at ten times¹². Check the printed layout at your table, because the exact multiple varies by jurisdiction.

House edge: from 0% to 16.67% depending on the bet

Craps has the widest spread of house edge of any table game. Depending on where your chips sit, the edge runs from around 0% on free odds bets to more than 16% on high-risk proposition bets like Any 7². Most common wagers fall between 1.36% and 6.67%².

Some craps options have no house edge at all, while others reach 16.67%³. The bets with the lowest house edge are the Pass Line, Come, Place and Odds bets¹. If you want the same numbers from the player's side, return to player is 98.59% on the Pass Line and 98.64% on the Don't Pass Line, but it can drop below 90% on Place Bets, Hardways and Proposition Bets¹³. For comparison, that spread is far wider than baccarat, where the edge sits between around 1 to 14% depending on the bet¹⁴. The reason for the spread is explained in our page on true odds vs payout odds, and the full payout tables are in craps odds.

Table minimums vary widely. Land-based casinos typically require $5 to $25 minimums at the craps pit⁵, online tables can start at $1⁵, and some crypto tables accept bets as low as $0.50 per roll². In Macao, bet amounts must be multiples of the table minimum⁸. Every craps table layout is exactly the same, but betting limits and dollar amounts vary between tables and casinos¹.

Where you can play craps in Asia: Okada Manila and live table formats

Live craps tables are rare in Asia. The game needs a large table, a four-person crew and a big crowd to work, so most casinos in the region stick to baccarat, blackjack, roulette and Sic Bo, a three-dice game that covers some of the same ground. If you want to see how the two dice games compare, read our page on Sic Bo vs craps.

The clearest land-based option is Okada Manila in the Philippines, whose gaming floor and VIP clubs hold about 400 table games, including craps alongside baccarat, roulette, blackjack, poker, Sic Bo and Pai Gow⁷. Okada Manila also runs a variant found nowhere else: Crapless Craps, offered exclusively at the property⁶. In Crapless Craps there are no losing numbers on the come-out roll, and more point numbers are in play, including 2, 3, 11 and 12⁶. The trade-off is simple to see: you cannot lose on the come-out roll, but the extra point numbers are much harder to make, since 2 and 12 each come up in only one of 36 combinations³.

Online, craps comes in two formats. Virtual craps is an RNG-based game with the same bet types: Pass Line, Don't Pass, Come, Don't Come and Proposition bets⁵. Live dealer craps streams a real table, and at many live dealer tables aimed at Asian players, bets start as low as €0.10¹⁶. These online formats are the practical way to learn the game's rhythm before standing at a live table, where the crew and the other players move quickly. For a broader look at how live tables differ from casino floors, see live dealer vs land-based table games, and for the wider picture of table games in the region, start with our guide to casino table games in Asia.