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The Smartest Bets in Craps
Pass line at 1.41% backed with free odds at exactly 0% is the cheapest combination in craps, while center props like Any 7 charge up to a 16.7% house edge.
The smartest play in craps is the pass line (about 1.41% house edge) or don't pass (about 1.36%), backed with the free odds bet. Odds pay at the true probability of the point hitting, so the house edge on that added money is exactly zero, the only 0% wager in the building.
How free odds work
Once a point is set, you may place extra chips directly behind your pass line bet. This "odds" bet wins with the line and pays true odds: 2:1 on points of 4 or 10, 3:2 on 5 or 9, 6:5 on 6 or 8. Tables cap it as a multiple of your line bet, commonly "3-4-5x". Nothing on the layout marks the space, which tells you something: casinos don't advertise the one bet they make nothing on.
Proving the zero edge on a point of 4
Count the dice. A 4 rolls three ways (1-3, 2-2, 3-1); a 7 rolls six ways. Once the point phase starts, only those nine combinations decide the odds bet, so you'll lose twice for every win: true odds of 2:1 against. The payout is also 2:1. When price equals probability, the edge is zero, and you can verify it with a full cycle.
Say the point is 4 and you put $20 in odds behind a $10 pass line bet. Play nine average decisions: the 4 arrives first three times, paying $40 each ($120 total), and the 7 arrives first six times, costing $20 each ($120 total). Won: $120. Lost: $120. Net: zero, exactly. Run the same arithmetic on the line bet itself and it comes out negative; run it on the odds and it never does. That's why the standard advice is a small line bet with the biggest odds your budget genuinely allows.
The bets to walk past
Now apply the same one-line audit to the proposition bets in the table's center. "Any 7" pays 4:1, but you just counted the truth: a 7 is six ways in 36, so the true odds are 5:1 against. Bet $1 six average rolls: one win pays $4, five losses cost $5, net minus $1 over $6 wagered. That's a 16.7% house edge, more than eleven times the pass line, on the exact dice you could back at 0%.
Bet | House edge | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
Pass or don't pass, backed with the largest odds your session budget honestly supports | 1.41% / 1.36%, and 0% on the odds portion | Best |
Come and don't come, which restart the pass-line cycle mid-round | Same 1.41% / 1.36% | Fine |
Placing the 6 or 8 | About 1.52% | Acceptable |
Center props, hardways, and one-roll bets | 9% to nearly 17% | Avoid |
House-edge figures per Wizard of Odds. Rule of thumb: the flashier the payout painted on the felt, the worse the deal behind it.
Zero edge doesn't mean free money. The odds bet is fair, not favorable. On a point of 4 it still loses two times in three, just at an honest price, and it never cancels the line bet's built-in cost. Size the whole position, line plus odds, to your budget, not to the table maximum.
The classic mistakes here are social, not mathematical. Players skip the odds bet because nobody explains it, then scatter chips across hardways because the table cheers for them. Others "hedge" the come-out with Any Craps insurance, stacking an 11% bet on top of a 1.41% one, which only guarantees paying two edges at once. And pressing your bets every win feels like riding momentum, but each press is new money exposed to the same old percentages. Decide your unit size before the first roll and let the table be loud without you following it.
Craps rewards exactly one skill: refusing bad prices. Line plus odds gets the combined edge under 1% at common odds multiples, which is about as cheap as casino gambling gets. Cheap still isn't free, so the goal stays the same as everywhere else in this course: longer, better-priced entertainment for money you'd already decided you could spend.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best bet to make in craps?
The smartest play is the pass line, with roughly a 1.41% house edge, or don't pass at about 1.36%, backed with the free odds bet. Because the odds bet pays at the true probability of the point hitting, its house edge is exactly zero. At common odds multiples, the combined line-plus-odds position keeps the total edge under 1%, about as cheap as casino gambling gets.
Why does the free odds bet in craps have no house edge?
The odds bet pays at true probability: 2:1 on points of 4 or 10, 3:2 on 5 or 9, and 6:5 on 6 or 8. On a point of 4, for example, a 4 rolls three ways and a 7 rolls six ways, so true odds are 2:1 against, and the payout is also 2:1. When the price equals the probability, the edge is zero, which is why over a full average cycle the odds bet nets exactly nothing.
How much can you bet on the odds behind the pass line?
Tables cap the odds bet as a multiple of your pass line bet, commonly "3-4-5x". The standard advice is to keep the line bet small and take the biggest odds your session budget genuinely allows, since the extra money behind the line carries zero house edge while the line bet itself always carries a built-in cost. Size the whole position to your budget, not to the table maximum.
Which craps bets should you avoid?
Avoid the proposition bets in the table's center, hardways, and one-roll bets, which are priced from 9% to nearly 17% house edge. Any 7 is a clear example: it pays 4:1, but a 7 rolls six ways in 36, making true odds 5:1 against, for a 16.7% edge, more than eleven times the pass line. A useful rule of thumb: the flashier the payout painted on the felt, the worse the deal.
Does the zero-edge odds bet mean you can't lose in craps?
No. Zero edge means the odds bet is fair, not favorable. On a point of 4 it still loses two times out of three, just at an honest price, and it never cancels the built-in cost of the pass line bet behind it. Line plus odds keeps the combined edge under 1%, but cheap is not free, so the goal remains longer, better-priced entertainment with money you had already decided to spend.
Should you hedge your pass line bet with Any Craps?
No. Hedging the come-out roll with Any Craps stacks an 11% house-edge bet on top of a 1.41% one, which only guarantees you pay two edges at once. This is one of the classic social mistakes in craps, alongside skipping the odds bet and scattering chips on hardways because the table cheers. Decide your unit size before the first roll and refuse bad prices.
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