House Edge in Craps: Why It Changes With Every Bet

Updated 6 September 2026 · Odds and maths

There is no single house edge in craps. The casino's built-in advantage — measured as a percentage of what you wager — changes depending on which bet sits on the table in front of you. Some bets carry an edge close to the lowest you'll find anywhere on the casino floor; others sit among the worst value in the building. If you're short on time: bets built around the pass line and its odds are the cheapest way to play, and single-roll proposition bets are the most expensive. Exact percentages for each wager are printed on the table's rules card or in the casino's own game rules, and that's where you should check the precise figures before you play, since they can differ slightly between venues.

Bets tied to the pass line

Pass line and come bets

The pass line bet is the default wager in craps — most players at the table have chips on it. It carries one of the lowest house edges available on the felt, which is why it's the bet dealers and regular players tend to recommend to anyone learning the game. The come bet works the same way but is placed after the point is already established, so it behaves like a pass line bet started mid-round. Neither bet requires any skill to place; the edge comes purely from the payout structure built into the rules.

More on this: Blackjack House Edge: About 0.5% Explained in 7 Steps and How Does House Edge Work: 9 Things to Understand.

Odds bets (free odds)

Once a point is set, you can back your pass line or come bet with an odds bet. This is the one wager in the casino where the house edge is effectively removed — the payout matches the true probability of the roll. The catch is that you can't place an odds bet on its own; it only exists as an addition to a pass line or come bet already on the table. Tables usually cap how much odds you can add, expressed as a multiple of your original bet, and that limit varies by casino.

Don't pass and don't come bets

These are the mirror image of pass line and come bets — you're betting against the shooter rather than with them. The house edge here sits close to the pass line's, sometimes very slightly lower, sometimes very slightly higher depending on how the casino handles the number 12 on the come-out roll. Some players avoid these bets simply because betting against the table can feel awkward in a social game, but mathematically they're in the same low-edge tier as pass line bets.

Bets you place directly on numbers

Place bets

Instead of waiting for a point to be established through the pass line, you can place a bet directly on a specific number — 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10. The house edge on these varies quite a bit depending on which number you pick. Bets on 6 and 8 tend to carry a noticeably lower edge than bets on 4 or 10, because 6 and 8 come up more often. This is one of the clearest examples of how bet selection changes the casino's advantage within the same game.

Field bet

The field is a one-roll bet covering several numbers at once, paying out if the next roll lands on any of them. It looks appealing because it covers a lot of ground, but the payout structure means the house edge sits higher than the core pass line and place bets on 6 or 8. It suits players who want a quick, simple bet on a single roll rather than a running wager tied to a shooter's whole turn.

Buy and lay bets

These work like place bets but with a commission charged upfront, in exchange for a payout closer to true odds. Whether a buy or lay bet is worthwhile compared with a straight place bet depends on the commission structure at that specific table, which is another detail worth checking on the rules card rather than assuming it's the same everywhere.

One-roll and proposition bets

Hard ways

A hard way bet wins if a specific number comes up as a double (hard 4, hard 6, hard 8, hard 10) before it comes up any other way or before a 7 is rolled. These sit well above the place bets in terms of house edge, because doubles are rarer than the many other combinations that make the same number. They suit players who enjoy the bigger payout for a specific, harder-to-hit outcome rather than steady, lower-risk wagers.

Any seven and other proposition bets

Bets like any seven, any craps, and the various single-number proposition wagers sit in the box at the centre of the table and pay out on the very next roll only. These carry some of the highest house edges at the craps table, by a wide margin compared with the pass line or place bets. They're often described as bets for entertainment on a single throw rather than a serious part of a betting strategy, and no way of timing or sequencing these bets changes the built-in edge.

Whichever bets you're drawn to, the edge applies over the long run of many rolls, not to any single throw — a good session on a high-edge bet doesn't mean the maths behind it has changed. Craps is often used precisely because it shows, in one game, how much bet selection can shift the casino's advantage even though the dice themselves are entirely random and remember nothing from the previous roll. Craps, like all casino games, is intended for adults only, and no betting pattern or staking system reduces the house edge on any of these wagers.