Course contents
Understanding House Edge
House edge is the average percentage of every bet you lose over time; pass line sits near 1.41%, while a single any-seven bet costs you 16.67% on average.
House edge is the long-run percentage of your total wagers that the casino keeps, on average. It's not a per-round tax and it doesn't mean you lose that percent every time. A 1.41% house edge means that across thousands of bets, you'd expect to lose about $1.41 for every $100 wagered. If any of the terms below are unfamiliar, the craps glossary covers them in plain English.
Craps has one of the widest ranges of house edge of any casino game, depending entirely on which bet you choose. That range is the single most useful thing to understand before you play.
Bet | House edge |
|---|---|
Free odds (behind pass/don't pass) | 0% |
Don't pass | ~1.36% |
Pass line | ~1.41% |
Place 6 or 8 | ~1.52% |
Place 5 or 9 | ~4.0% |
Place 4 or 10 | ~6.67% |
Field bet | ~2.7%–5.5% (rules vary) |
Hard 6 or 8 | ~9.09% |
Hard 4 or 10 | ~11.1% |
Any seven | ~16.67% |
The free odds bet is the outlier worth remembering: it pays true mathematical odds, so the casino takes no cut on it at all. It's only available as an add-on to a pass, don't pass, come, or don't come bet, which is why those base bets matter — see the full odds table for the exact payouts by point number.
The house edge doesn't change based on how you feel, how long you've been playing, or what the dice "look like they're due for" — it's fixed by the bet type alone.
House edge comes directly from the probability of each outcome versus what the bet pays. A 7 rolls 6 ways out of 36, more than any other number, so any bet betting against a 7 (like pass line and place bets) benefits, while bets that need long-shot numbers like hard 4 or hard 10 pay worse odds relative to their true probability.
This is also why "hot" and "cold" tables are an illusion. Each roll is independent of the last. A shooter who just rolled five points in a row has exactly the same odds on the next roll as a shooter who just seven-out immediately. House edge assumes independence, and craps dice, whether physical or RNG-driven online, are built to be independent.
Knowing the house edge table above lets you rank bets by cost instantly, which is exactly what the next lesson's odds table expands into full payout detail, and the lesson after that turns into an actual ranked list you can use at the table.
Sources
- Wizard of Odds: Craps Appendix — House Edge by Bet — detailed house edge calculations for every craps bet (retrieved July 2026)
- PokerNews: Craps Betting Explained — A Beginner's Guide — house edge figures for pass line, don't pass, place bets, and any seven (retrieved July 2026)
- VegasInsider: Craps Odds Explained — True Odds, Payouts & House Edge — true odds vs. payout odds and house edge by bet (retrieved July 2026)
Frequently asked questions
What is the lowest house edge bet in craps?
The free odds bet, at 0%, but you can only place it behind a pass or don't pass wager after a point is set. Among bets you can make on their own, don't pass is lowest at 1.36%, with pass line right behind at 1.41%.
Why is the any seven bet so bad?
Any seven pays 4:1, but a 7 rolls 6 times out of every 36 dice combinations, so a fair payout would be 5:1. That gap between what you're paid and the true odds is where the 16.67% house edge comes from — the worst standard bet on the felt.
Does a lower house edge mean I'll win more often?
Not exactly. House edge measures long-run cost per dollar wagered, not how often a bet wins. Don't pass actually wins slightly less than half the time, yet carries the lowest edge in the game.
Can I lower the house edge on a bet I've already made?
No. The edge is baked into each bet's payout ratio and doesn't change once the bet is down. What you can do is add a free odds bet behind a pass or don't pass wager, which lowers your combined edge across both bets without touching the original.
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