The beginner's guide to craps
Ten minutes from "that table looks terrifying" to knowing exactly what to do. No jargon without a translation.
Two dice, thirty-six outcomes
Everything in craps comes from one fact: two dice land in 36 equally likely combinations. Six of them total 7 — more than any other number — which is why the whole game revolves around the seven. An 8 can happen 5 ways; a 2 only one way. Payouts are just prices on those probabilities.
| Total | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ways | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
The rhythm of a hand
The first roll of a hand is the comeout (the puck shows OFF). On the comeout, a 7 or 11 wins the pass line instantly; 2, 3, or 12 — "craps" — loses it. Any other total (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) becomes the point: the puck flips to ON and sits on that number.
Now the shooter keeps rolling with one mission: roll the point again before rolling a 7. Make the point and the pass line wins and a new comeout begins. Roll a 7 first — the dreaded seven-out — and the hand ends, the line loses, and the dice pass on.
Your first bet: the pass line
Put a chip on the PASS LINE before the comeout. That's it — you're playing craps. It pays even money and the house edge is just 1.41%, one of the best bets in the building.
Your second bet is the best bet in the casino
Once a point is set, you can add odds behind your pass bet. Odds pay true: 2:1 against a point of 4 or 10, 3:2 against 5 or 9, 6:5 against 6 or 8. The house makes zero on this bet — which is why casinos cap it (here, the standard 3-4-5x your flat bet). On PointPuck the dashed lane under the pass line takes your odds, and the MAX ODDS quick bet fills it to the cap for you.
The number columns: three bets in one
This is the part of the table that confuses everyone, so let's kill the confusion. Each point number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) is a column of three separate bets. Which strip you tap decides what you actually backed:
| Strip | What it means | Pays |
|---|---|---|
| LAY (top) | Bet against the number — you win if a 7 comes first. The "dark side" of that number. | True odds, reversed: risk $40 to win $20 on 4/10, $30 to win $20 on 5/9, $24 to win $20 on 6/8, minus 5% of the win |
| The number (middle) | A PLACE bet — you win if that number rolls before a 7. The everyday number bet. | 9:5 on 4/10 · 7:5 on 5/9 · 7:6 on 6/8 |
| BUY (bottom) | The same "before a 7" bet as PLACE, but paid at true odds for a 5% commission on your winnings. | 2:1 on 4/10 · 3:2 on 5/9 · 6:5 on 6/8, less the vig |
When does BUY beat PLACE? On the 4 and the 10, decisively: placing them pays a stingy 9:5 (6.67% house edge), while buying them pays a true 2:1 for a 5% commission — about 1.67%. Here the commission is 5% of your bet (minimum $1) and only comes out when you win, so buying the 5 and 9 in $20 units is an upgrade too: 2.0% instead of 4.0%. Under $20 that $1 minimum is more than 5% and the buy turns worse than the place. On the 6 and 8 a buy is never better than placing (a wash at $30, worse below) — place those. The buy and lay guide walks the arithmetic.
A worked example on the 10. Place $5 → it pays $9. Buy $20 → it pays $40 less a $1 commission = $39, far more per dollar risked. Lay $40 → you collect $20 (less $1) if the 7 shows before the 10. Same number, three completely different bets.
Place, buy, lay and hardway bets automatically sit OFF during a comeout (that's standard casino rule — your number can't win while there's no point), and you can force any of them ON or OFF yourself.
The rest of the layout, fast
- Come — a pass-line bet you make mid-hand. It travels to the next number rolled and wins if that number repeats before a 7. You can back it with odds once it travels.
- Don't pass / Don't come — the other side of the line: you win on the seven-out. (The 12 pushes on the comeout — that's the "bar 12".)
- Field — one roll: wins on 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12; double on 2, triple on 12. It covers seven numbers but misses the four most common ones, so the house keeps 2.78%.
- Hardways — the doubles. "Hard 8" is 4+4 and must arrive that way before either a 7 or an easy 8 (6+2, 5+3). 9:1 on hard 6/8, 7:1 on hard 4/10.
- One-roll props — decided on the very next throw: Aces and Boxcars 30:1, Ace-Deuce and Yo 15:1, Any Craps 7:1, Any Seven 4:1. Horn splits four ways (bet in $4 steps), C&E splits two ways, Hop is naming an exact pair.
- Big 6 / Big 8 — the tourist trap: identical to placing the 6 or 8 but paying only even money instead of 7:6. Place them instead, every time.
- Bonus Craps — All Small (2-6), All Tall (8-12), All or Nothing at All: collect the whole set before any 7 for 35-for-1 or 176-for-1.
Learn it by doing it
Reading this is 10% of it. The other 90% is watching your chips move when the dice land. That's the entire reason PointPuck exists — a free table with a $1,000 practice rail where a mistake costs nothing.
Practice free on the tableReady for the numbers behind each bet? Read the strategy guide.