What the ranking shows
A craps table offers dozens of wagers on the same two dice, and they do not cost the same. Each carries a house edge, the average share of the stake the casino expects to keep. Ranking the bets by that figure shows which are cheapest and which are most expensive, and nothing else. Every bet below has a negative expectation, except an odds bet, which cannot be made on its own.
The figures here are the commonly quoted values under standard payouts. Individual casinos can differ, so treat them as a guide to how the game is built, not a guarantee of what any table offers.
The dice behind every bet
Two dice produce 36 equally likely combinations, but the sums are not equally likely. A total of 7 can be made six ways, 6 and 8 five ways each, 5 and 9 four ways, 4 and 10 three ways, 3 and 11 two ways each, and 2 and 12 one way each. This uneven spread of two-dice sums is why seven is the most common roll, and together with ordinary dice probability it drives every price in the table.
The table
| Bet | Typical payout | Approximate house edge |
|---|---|---|
| Odds behind a pass or don’t pass bet | True odds | 0% on the odds portion |
| Don’t pass | Even money | 1.36% |
| Pass line | Even money | 1.41% |
| Place 6 or 8 | 7 to 6 | 1.52% |
| Place 5 or 9 | 7 to 5 | 4.00% |
| Field (2 and 12 pay double) | Even money, 2 to 1 on 2 and 12 | 5.56% |
| Place 4 or 10 | 9 to 5 | 6.67% |
| Hard 6 or hard 8 | 9 to 1 | 9.09% |
| Hard 4 or hard 10 | 7 to 1 | 11.11% |
| Any craps | 7 to 1 | 11.11% |
| Any seven | 4 to 1 | 16.67% |
How some of the figures are worked out
Pass line. The first roll wins on 7 or 11 (8 of 36 combinations) and loses on 2, 3 or 12 (4 of 36). Any other total becomes the point, and the bet then wins if the point repeats before a 7. Adding these routes together, the bet wins about 49.3 percent of the time (244 out of 495). Because a win and a loss pay the same, the edge is the gap between winning and losing: 7/495, or about 1.41 percent. The don’t pass bet is similar, but a roll of 12 on the first throw is typically a tie instead of a win, which is how the casino keeps its edge there.
Place 6. Once a 7 or a 6 has been rolled, the chance that the 6 came first is 5 out of 11, since there are five ways to make 6 and six to make 7. The bet pays 7 to 6. The expected value per unit is 5/11 x 7/6 minus 6/11 = 35/66 minus 36/66 = minus 1/66, about minus 1.52 percent.
Place 4. Three ways to roll 4 against six ways to roll 7 means a 1 in 3 chance of winning before a 7. At 9 to 5 the expected value is 1/3 x 1.8 minus 2/3 = 0.6 minus 0.667, which is minus 0.0667, or 6.67 percent.
Any seven. This is a one-roll bet that wins when the next roll is 7, which is 6 chances in 36. At 4 to 1, the expected value is 6/36 x 4 minus 30/36 = 24/36 minus 30/36 = minus 6/36, about minus 16.67 percent.
Hard 6. The bet wins if 3 and 3 appears before any other 6 or a 7. There is one hard way against four easy ways and six ways to roll 7, so the chance is 1 in 11. At 9 to 1 the expected value is 9/11 minus 10/11 = minus 1/11, which is about minus 9.09 percent.
Reading the pattern
The cheapest bets are the line bets and the odds behind them, where the payout is close to matching the probability. The most expensive are the one-roll proposition bets at the bottom of the table, which pay a large multiple on a rare outcome but set the multiple below what the true odds would justify. A bet that looks attractive because it pays 7 to 1 can carry a larger edge than one that pays even money.
An odds bet pays true odds, so its own edge is zero, but it can only be placed after a pass or don’t pass bet, and the line bet keeps its own edge. The combined edge on all the money at risk is therefore lower than the line bet’s edge, not zero.
What the edge does not mean
The percentage is an average over many resolved bets. Over a short session, results are dominated by chance, and a hard-way bet that rarely hits can still hit twice in a row. It also does not say that the dice are “due” for a number. Each roll is independent, and no betting pattern, including increasing or decreasing the stake, changes the average cost of the bets. Considering volatility and return together helps explain why high-edge bets feel exciting but cost more.
Gambling can be harmful, and every craps bet has a negative expectation over time. Decide beforehand what you could afford to lose, and keep to those spending limits. If gambling is causing difficulty for you or someone you know, a local support service can help.