Course contents
What Is Craps?
Craps is a dice game built around one shooter and one round: the come-out roll wins outright on 7 or 11 eight ways out of 36, setting up everything else you'll learn in this course.
Craps is a dice game where you bet on the outcome of rolls made by one player, the shooter, using two six-sided dice. You don't need to be the shooter to play. Anyone at the table can bet on the same roll, which is part of why craps feels social compared to other table games.
Each round starts with a come-out roll. If the shooter rolls a 7 or 11, pass line bets win immediately. Roll a 2, 3, or 12 and those same bets lose, a result called "craps." Any other number, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, becomes the "point," and the round moves into its second phase.
Once a point is set, the shooter keeps rolling. The round ends one of two ways: the shooter rolls the point number again (pass line wins), or rolls a 7 first (pass line loses, called "seven out"). Every other number rolled in between just doesn't matter yet — the shooter keeps going.
The entire game boils down to one question per round: does the point repeat before a 7 shows up?
Here's why the math works the way it does. Two dice produce 36 equally likely combinations. A 7 comes up 6 ways (1-6, 2-5, 3-4, and their reverses), more than any other number. That's why a 7 on the come-out is common, and why a 7 after the point is set is dangerous for pass line bettors.
Come-out roll | Ways to make it (out of 36) | Result for pass line |
|---|---|---|
7 or 11 | 8 | Win |
2, 3, or 12 | 4 | Lose |
4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 | 24 | Point is set |
Craps looks chaotic at a live table with chips flying and people shouting, but the structure underneath is simple: one roll to open, then a race between the point and the 7. Every bet type you'll learn in this course is just a different way of betting on pieces of that race — the full odds table and the house edge lesson turn this same math into numbers you can use at the table.
You don't need any skill to play craps. There's no strategy that changes the dice. What you control is which bets you place and how much you risk, which is exactly what the rest of this course covers. Treat craps as entertainment with a cost, set a budget before you sit down, and stop when you hit it.
By the end of this lesson you should be able to explain the come-out roll, define "the point," and say why 7 is the most important number on the table. The next lesson walks through a full round step by step, including where your chips actually go.
Sources
- Wizard of Odds: Craps — house edge calculations for all standard bets (retrieved July 2026)
- Britannica: Craps — game rules, come-out roll, and point phase (retrieved July 2026)
- VegasInsider: Craps Odds — house edge figures for pass, don't pass, place, and hard way bets (retrieved July 2026)
Frequently asked questions
What's the very first bet I should make in craps?
The pass line is the standard first bet because it's simple, visible, and carries one of the lowest house edges on the table at roughly 1.41% (Wizard of Odds). You place it before the come-out roll and it stays locked until the round resolves.
Why is 7 the most important number on the table?
A 7 has 6 ways to roll out of 36 combinations, more than any other number, which makes it the most common single total. That single fact drives almost every house edge figure in craps, since most bets are really wagers on whether a given number beats a 7.
What does "seven out" mean?
"Seven out" means a 7 was rolled during the point phase, which ends the shooter's turn and loses every pass line and come bet still on the table. It's the single most consequential phrase in the game.
Do I have to be the shooter to play?
No. Anyone at the table can bet without ever picking up the dice, and most players never do. You're free to just bet on whoever is currently shooting.
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