How to Play Dice Gambling: Rules, Bets and House Edge

Dice gambling means betting on the result of one or more rolled dice, either physical dice thrown at a table (craps, sic bo, Bac Bo) or a number drawn by software (crypto “dice” games). To play, you pick a bet, the dice decide it, and the casino pays at fixed odds that are slightly worse than the true odds. That gap is the house edge, and it ranges from 0% on the craps odds bet to more than 16% on some proposition bets, so learning which bets to make matters more than any “system”.

This guide covers both questions people ask: what a dice game actually is, and how to play the main gambling versions step by step. Every house edge below follows from the game’s maths or comes from the game provider, listed in the sources.

What is a dice game?

A dice game is any game where the outcome is decided by rolling dice. Family games such as Yahtzee use dice to build a score over many turns, and the best score wins. Gambling dice games are built differently: every roll settles money bets at a posted payout, so a round can last seconds instead of half an hour.

Standard dice have six faces numbered 1 to 6. With two dice there are 36 equally likely combinations, and with three dice there are 216. Those two numbers drive all the maths in craps and sic bo. A total of 7, for example, can be made six ways with two dice (1+6, 2+5, 3+4 and the reverses), which is why 7 is the most common total at 6 in 36, or 16.7%.

Casino dice versus board game dice

Casino dice are precision cubes with sharp edges and corners, flush (filled) pips and serial numbers, made so that every face has the same chance. Board game dice usually have rounded corners and drilled or painted pips, which is fine for a family game but not built for money bets. Craps tables add a rubber-pyramid back wall: the dice must hit it, which makes controlled throws far harder.

Physical dice versus virtual dice

Gambling dice games split into two groups. In the first, real dice are thrown by a player, a dealer or a shaker machine, and you watch the result in a land casino or on a live-dealer stream. In the second, software produces the result. Online craps and sic bo tables from game studios use a random number generator (RNG) that simulates the dice, while crypto casinos run their own “dice” games where a random number between 0 and 100 replaces the physical cube.

The rules and payouts do not change because the dice are virtual. A fair RNG craps table produces 7 on one roll in six, exactly like a real table. What changes is speed: software games settle a bet every second or two, so the same house edge eats a bankroll much faster.

Types of casino dice games

Hazard, the English ancestor of craps, and street craps are covered further down, since neither is a casino-banked game today.

How to play craps: the casino rules

Craps is the dice game most people mean when they say “dice gambling”. It uses two dice, one shooter at a time and a table layout full of bets, but a beginner needs only the pass line. Our craps hub covers online tables; the round itself works like this:

1. Come-out roll. Before the first roll you bet on the pass line (with the shooter) or the don’t pass bar (against).
2. Instant decisions. A 7 or 11 on the come-out wins for pass. A 2, 3 or 12 (“craps”) loses for pass. Don’t pass is the mirror image, except that 12 is a push for don’t pass, which is what gives the house its edge on that side.
3. The point. Any 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 becomes the point. The dealer marks it with the “on” puck.
4. Rolling for the point. The shooter keeps rolling. Pass wins if the point repeats before a 7; pass loses if a 7 comes first (“seven out”).
5. Next shooter. After a seven-out the dice move to the next player and a new come-out starts.

On the come-out, pass wins 8 rolls out of 36 (22.2%) and loses 4 (11.1%). The other 24 combinations set a point, and from there the 7 is favoured over every point number. Put together, a pass bet wins 244 times in 495, or 49.29%, which is a house edge of 1.41%.

Come, don’t come and the odds bet

Come and don’t come are the same bets as pass and don’t pass, placed after a point is set; the next roll acts as their own come-out. Once your line bet has a point, you can add an odds bet behind it. It pays true odds: 2 to 1 on 4 or 10, 3 to 2 on 5 or 9 and 6 to 5 on 6 or 8. Laying odds behind don’t pass pays 1 to 2, 2 to 3 and 5 to 6. The house has no edge on odds money, so the more of your total stake sits in odds (within the table limit, often 3x, 4x or 5x the line bet), the lower your overall edge.

Craps bets, payouts and house edge

The table shows the house edge per bet resolved. Edges per roll look smaller for multi-roll bets, but per bet resolved is the fairer comparison.

The pattern is clear. Line bets with odds are the cheapest way to play, place 6 and 8 are acceptable, and the one-roll proposition bets in the middle of the layout cost between 11% and 17% of every stake. Buy bets (true odds minus a 5% commission) cost 1.67% on 4 and 10 when the commission is charged only on wins, and 4.76% when it is charged up front.

Craps terms you will hear

• Shooter: the player rolling the dice.
• Come-out roll: the first roll of a new round.
• Point: the 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 set on the come-out.
• Natural: a 7 or 11 on the come-out.
• Craps / crap out: a 2, 3 or 12 on the come-out.
• Seven out: a 7 after a point is set, which ends the shooter’s turn.
• Hard way: an even total made with a pair, such as 4+4 for hard 8.
• Bar 12: the rule that makes 12 a push for don’t pass bettors.
• Proposition bets: the one-roll bets in the centre of the layout.

Street craps: how it differs

Street craps follows the same pass logic (7 or 11 wins on the first roll, 2, 3 or 12 loses, anything else is a point) but there is no casino and no table. Players bet against each other. The shooter puts up a stake, another player “fades” (covers) it, and side bets between players settle at whatever odds they agree. Because no house banks the game, there is no built-in edge, but there is also no dealer, no surveillance and no one to settle a dispute. Street craps for money is illegal in many places, and disputes over cheating are common, so treat it as background knowledge rather than advice to play.

The key differences are simple. Casino craps uses a table, a backboard and posted payouts; street craps uses a wall or kerb and private agreements. A casino pays every winner at fixed odds, while street players can only win what another player has covered.

How to play sic bo

Sic bo uses three dice shaken in a closed container. You place chips on a layout of 50-odd betting areas, the dealer (or the RNG) reveals the dice, and winning areas light up. There is no shooter and no point; every round is a single roll. Read more on our sic bo page.

Small and Big lose to triples, which come up 6 times in 216 rolls. That is the whole house edge on those bets, and it is the reason Small and Big are the only sic bo bets close to craps line bets in value.

Bac Bo, chuck-a-luck and hazard

Bac Bo

Bac Bo is a live-dealer game from Evolution that turns baccarat into a dice game. Two dice are rolled for the Player and two for the Banker, and the higher total wins. Player and Banker bets pay even money and, in the version shown here, lose 10% of the stake on a tie, which gives a house edge of 1.13%. Tie payouts depend on the tied total and on the game version, so read the paytable in the game before you bet on a tie. If you like the card version, our guide on how to play baccarat explains the original.

Chuck-a-luck

Chuck-a-luck (also called birdcage) spins three dice in an hourglass-shaped wire cage. You bet on a number from 1 to 6 and get paid 1 to 1, 2 to 1 or 3 to 1 if it shows on one, two or three dice. With those classic 1, 2 and 3 to 1 payouts it is the same bet as the sic bo single number, with the same 7.87% house edge; versions that pay more for three of a kind cost less.

Hazard

Hazard is the 17th-century English game that craps grew out of. The caster calls a “main” number from 5 to 9 and rolls two dice: certain totals win or lose at once, and any other total becomes the “chance”, which the caster must repeat before the main. The rules vary between sources and the game is no longer offered by casinos, so it is mainly of historical interest.

Crypto dice: the simplest dice game online

Crypto casinos popularised a different “dice” game that has no physical dice at all. You choose a target number on a 0 to 100 scale and whether the roll must land over or under it. That choice sets your win chance, and the casino sets the multiplier from it. Stake’s Dice, for example, has a 1% house edge and sets the multiplier as 99 divided by the win chance: 2x at a 49.5% chance and 49.5x at a 2% chance.

Because the multiplier is calculated from the win chance, the edge stays the same at every setting. Picking 90% or 10% changes how bumpy the ride is, not what you lose on average. A worked example: 1,000 bets of 0.0001 BTC is 0.1 BTC wagered, so a 1% edge costs about 0.001 BTC on average, whatever target you choose.

Most crypto dice games are provably fair: the casino commits to a hashed server seed before you bet, you add a client seed, and after the seed is revealed you can recompute each roll yourself. That proves the roll was not changed after your bet, but it does not lower the house edge. Our crypto dice hub compares the games and edges in more detail.

Dice game strategy: what works and what does not

No betting pattern changes the odds of independent rolls. Dice have no memory, so a run of sevens does not make the next 7 more or less likely, and a progression such as the Martingale (double after each loss) only reshapes results: many small wins, then an occasional loss large enough to cancel them. Table limits and your balance end the progression long before it can “guarantee” a win.

What does work is choosing low-edge bets and controlling exposure:

• Stick to line bets in craps and add odds when you can afford them. Avoid the one-roll propositions.
• In sic bo, play Small or Big and treat triple bets as lottery tickets.
• Count bets per hour. A fast RNG or crypto dice game can settle 1,000 bets in the time a live craps table settles 100, so the same edge costs ten times more per hour.
• Set a loss limit before you start and stop when you hit it. Our bankroll management tips show how to size a session.
• Ignore “dice control”. Regulated tables require the dice to hit the back wall, and no claimed throwing method has been shown to beat that.

Should you play dice games at a crypto casino?

Dice games are among the cheapest casino games when you choose the right bets: 1.41% on a pass line, 1% on many crypto dice games, 2.78% on sic bo Small or Big. Compare that with the 2% to 5% edge typical of online slots. The trade-off is speed, especially in software dice, and the licence behind the site. Offshore crypto casinos are usually licensed in Curaçao or Anjouan, which gives far weaker player protection than a local licence. Check our rating method before you pick a site, and use the casino’s deposit limits and self-exclusion tools. Help is available from Gamblers Anonymous (gamblersanonymous.org) and on our responsible gambling page.

Dice gambling FAQ

What is the best bet in dice gambling?

In craps, the pass or don’t pass line with the odds bet behind it. The line bets carry a house edge of 1.41% and 1.36%, and the odds bet has no house edge at all. In sic bo, Small and Big are best at 2.78%.

How do you play dice for money?

Choose a game, place a bet before the roll and let the dice settle it at the posted payout. In casino craps you start with a pass line bet on the come-out roll: 7 or 11 wins, 2, 3 or 12 loses, and any other total becomes the point that must repeat before a 7.

What are the odds of rolling a 7 with two dice?

Six of the 36 possible combinations make 7, so the chance is 1 in 6, about 16.7%. That is why 7 is the most common total and why the Any 7 bet, which pays 4 to 1 instead of the fair 5 to 1, has a 16.67% house edge.

Is there a strategy to win at dice games?

No strategy beats the house edge, because each roll is independent of the last. Betting systems such as the Martingale only change the pattern of wins and losses. You can lower your expected loss by choosing low-edge bets, taking odds in craps and limiting how many bets you make per hour.

What is the difference between street craps and casino craps?

In casino craps everyone bets against the house at fixed payouts on a table with a backboard. In street craps players bet against each other at agreed odds, with no dealer and no house edge, but also no one to enforce payment or settle disputes.

How does crypto dice work?

You pick a target on a 0 to 100 scale and bet that the roll lands over or under it. The win chance sets the multiplier: on Stake’s Dice, with a 1% house edge, a 49.5% chance pays 2x and a 2% chance pays 49.5x. Provably fair seeds let you check each roll after the fact.