Craps Guide: How Rolls, Points and Bets Work

A craps table contains many wagers but uses a simple physical event: two dice are rolled and their total is read. The difficult part is that different wagers are waiting for different events, sometimes during the same series of rolls. A seven can be a winning result for one wager at the start of a cycle and a losing result after a point has been established.

What happens on the come-out roll?

The come-out roll begins a new Pass-line cycle. Under standard Pennsylvania-regulated craps rules, a Pass wager wins when the come-out total is 7 or 11 and loses when it is 2, 3 or 12. A total of 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 instead establishes the point. The game then enters a different state: the dice continue to be rolled until the point or a seven resolves that line wager.

This distinction makes sense of the terms used by dealers and interfaces. The game has not "almost completed" a Pass win when a point is set; the wager is waiting for a specified future event. Some other bets can be added while that point remains active.

A come-out roll belongs to the current Pass-line sequence. It does not necessarily reset every bet placed on the table. This is why the same roll can settle one wager and leave another in place.

How the point phase works

Suppose the come-out roll is six. Six becomes the point. If six appears again before seven, the Pass bet wins under the standard rule. If seven appears first, the Pass bet loses. A roll of eight, nine or another non-resolving total may leave that particular wager unchanged while affecting some other bet on the layout.

After the point cycle settles, a subsequent come-out roll can begin a new cycle. In physical play the position of a marker, sometimes labelled "on" or "off", helps identify the current table state. Digital craps games typically show the point somewhere on the screen.

It is tempting to focus only on how often a dice total appears. But craps is better understood as a sequence of conditional events. A total that did not settle the Pass bet may have settled a one-roll wager immediately.

Pass and Don't Pass are not perfect mirror images

A Pass wager follows the come-out and point rules described above. Don't Pass is the opposing side of much of that sequence, but its starting treatment can differ. Under Pennsylvania's standard rules, Don't Pass wins on a come-out 2 or 3, loses on 7 or 11, and a come-out 12 makes the wager void with the stake returned. Once a point is set, Don't Pass wins if seven comes before the point repeats.

That rule for 12 matters because it prevents a simple verbal shortcut like "Don't Pass does exactly the opposite of Pass." The two wager contracts are closely related, but the settlement details are not identical at that table.

Other approved craps versions can treat come-out outcomes differently. A game labelled "crapless craps", for example, should not automatically be read using the standard Pass-line sequence. Read the rule sheet for the actual table before assuming its sequence follows the example above.

What is the difference between a Come bet and a Pass bet?

A Come wager begins a separate pass-like sequence once the table is past the main come-out roll. The next roll after placing that wager is the Come bet's opening event. Under the Pennsylvania example, seven or eleven can settle it as a win; two, three or twelve can settle it as a loss; and a qualifying point total gives that individual Come wager its own numbered target.

That Come point can differ from the table's main Pass-line point. If the table point is six and a new Come bet moves to eight, both wagers can now be waiting on different results. A roll of eight may settle one while leaving the other unresolved. A seven can affect several simultaneously, subject to each wager's conditions.

Don't Come follows a comparable opposing structure under the applicable table rules. In the Pennsylvania version, the twelve exception also applies to the opening Don't Come roll. Again, the useful information is the contract and its stage rather than trying to remember a label in isolation.

Why several points can be visible at once

A craps display may show the main point plus several Come or Don't Come markers positioned on numbered boxes. These markers are not necessarily several main-table points. They can represent separate wagers created at different times and waiting for their own settlement.

For a concrete example, one Pass wager may be working on six while a Come wager is working on nine. A roll of nine can resolve the latter without completing the Pass cycle. The next roll still has to be interpreted for all remaining active wagers.

The interface should indicate which stakes remain active and which have settled. If the layout is hard to follow, reading one wager at a time is more reliable than guessing what the entire table "needs" to roll next.

What are odds bets?

Some craps tables permit an additional odds wager linked to an established line or Come point. It is not simply the original Pass stake displayed in a different location. The additional wager has its own amount, allowable limit and payout terms based on the point number.

For example, the Pennsylvania rules distinguish the Pass wager from an odds wager associated with a point. Different point numbers have different dice combinations and therefore can have different payout ratios. That arithmetic distinction does not make a particular extra wager compulsory and is not a reason to increase a stake to recover losses.

The availability and maximum size of odds wagers can vary, and not every online implementation displays them in the same way. If a game has an "odds" button, check what opening wager it belongs to and whether it is currently eligible.

What is a Place bet?

A Place bet is a separate wager on a nominated number, commonly one of 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, appearing before seven. It does not require that number to be the table's current Pass-line point.

In the Pennsylvania example, Place bets on different numbers have different published payoffs. That is understandable once the dice combinations are considered: a six can be formed in more ways than a four, so the event probabilities differ. The wager's own paytable, not the Pass-line rules, determines the prize on a successful result.

Some physical rules distinguish whether a Place bet is working during a come-out roll and provide an on/off marker or announcement. An online version should explain when its Place bets are active. A bet remaining on the screen does not necessarily mean it is treated identically on every phase of the table's cycle.

What are proposition, field and hardway bets?

The centre of a craps layout often contains proposition wagers on specified totals or combinations, sometimes for the next roll only. A field wager may pay on a defined set of totals, with special treatment for particular totals under the paytable. A hardway wager refers to a particular double such as two threes producing six, with its own conditions for success or loss.

These wagers are distinct contracts. A six rolled as three-plus-three can mean something different to a hardway wager than a six rolled as five-plus-one. Meanwhile a Pass bet working on six may care only that the total is six, not which dice formed it.

It is important not to call every centre-table wager a "one-roll bet." Some resolve immediately on the next throw, while others may remain until a different specified result. The table rules must identify which is which.

A clear worked example of one table cycle

Imagine a new come-out roll shows eight, making eight the main point. A subsequent roll shows five: the main Pass wager is still waiting on eight or seven. At that moment, a new Come wager could be placed if the rules permit it. If its next opening roll is nine, that Come wager may move to the nine box and wait for nine or seven.

If the following roll is nine, the Come wager may be settled as a win while the original Pass bet continues to wait for eight. If instead seven appears first, the original Pass bet and the Come wager may both be settled according to their respective conditions. No single label such as "point" can tell the whole story once different wagers are running at the same time.

The changing states of the two wagers explain the different settlements. Nothing about that sequence provides a prediction of the next dice total.

Dice probabilities are not a betting system

Two six-sided dice produce 36 ordered combinations. Some totals can occur in more combinations than others: seven has six ordered combinations, while two and twelve each have one. That distinction explains why different bets have different quoted payouts and settlement rules.

It does not establish when the next seven will appear or justify increasing a stake after a run of missed outcomes. When dice outcomes are independent under the game's rules, the previous results do not by themselves turn a particular total into an overdue event. A table's mathematical house edge and the variance of different wagers are separate topics explained at RTP and variance guide.

A reader may find it useful to distinguish the 36-combination space from a one-line prediction. The former is a way of explaining the game; the latter is an unsupported claim about the next roll.

Craps variants and digital table interfaces

A title described as "crapless", "mini craps" or another variation may change which totals establish points or what is available to wager on. Some interfaces simplify the physical layout and put bets in menus rather than printed boxes. The underlying bets still need rule explanations that identify the current point, active stakes and settlement events.

A digital or live-dealer presentation is not, by itself, evidence that the rules are identical to a named land-based table. The market and game version can matter. This is why the Pennsylvania examples above are explicitly identified as one regulated ruleset rather than described as universal rules for craps everywhere.

A short method for reading a crowded layout

Start with the current main-table phase: come-out or point. Note the point number if one is set. Choose one specific wager and identify whether it has its own point, its own active/off state or a next-roll-only outcome. Read that wager's payout and resolution conditions. Only then look at the remaining chips or markers.

This method makes the game intelligible without claiming to choose a profitable bet. A free demonstration can help a reader locate interface controls if its rules match the version being studied, but it cannot establish future real-money returns.

If play is becoming driven by loss chasing or by an urge to keep increasing bets, information about setting limits and seeking help is available in Rome's responsible gambling guide: Responsible Gambling guide.

Craps is best understood as multiple wagers running against one stream of dice rolls. Once their phases and contracts are separated, the table no longer needs to be read as one overwhelming collection of numbers.