Craps House Edge: Which Bets Cost You Least

In craps, the cheapest bet is the odds bet at 0 percent house edge, followed by the pass line and come at 1.41 percent and the don’t pass and don’t come at 1.36 percent. The most expensive standard bet is any seven at 16.67 percent. The house edge is the casino’s average cut on each wager, and it is identical whether you fund your play with bitcoin, ether, tether or fiat currency.

What is the house edge in craps?

The house edge in craps is the share of each wager the casino keeps on average, and it runs from 0 percent on the odds bet to 16.67 percent on any seven. The edge exists because a winning bet pays slightly less than its true odds.

A fair wager would pay true odds, so the player breaks even over time. A casino pays a little less, and that shortfall is the house edge. Return to player, usually shortened to RTP, is 100 percent minus the edge, so a pass line bet with a 1.41 percent edge returns 98.59 percent over the long run.

The payouts used below come from New Jersey’s payout-odds rule, N.J.A.C. 13:69F-1.4, which sets the minimum a casino may pay for each craps wager and forbids paying less. The edge for each bet is calculated from those payouts and the 36 equally likely outcomes of two six-sided dice.

What is the lowest house edge bet in craps?

The odds bet has the lowest house edge in craps at 0 percent, because it pays true odds. It must sit behind a pass line, don’t pass, come or don’t come bet, and it is usually capped at a multiple of that base bet, often 3x, 4x or 5x.

Pass line odds pay 2 to 1 on a point of 4 or 10, 3 to 2 on 5 or 9, and 6 to 5 on 6 or 8. Taking full odds lowers the combined edge of your total action, but it does not remove the edge on the line bet underneath, because the odds bet and the line bet are separate wagers.

No betting system removes the house edge. The odds bet is the only wager that pays exactly true odds, and even it is tied to a line bet that already carries an edge. Treat the edge as a long-run cost of play, not a short-term result you can out-run with a progression.

What is the house edge on the pass line and don’t pass?

The pass line and come bets carry a 1.41 percent house edge, and the don’t pass and don’t come carry 1.36 percent when a come-out 12 is barred. The pass line pays even money and wins about 49.29 percent of decisions, losing the other 50.71 percent.

On the come-out roll the pass line wins on a 7 or 11, which is 8 of 36 outcomes, and loses on a 2, 3 or 12, which is 4 of 36. Any other total becomes the point, and the pass line then wins if the point repeats before a 7. Working through every outcome gives the 1.41 percent edge and an RTP of 98.59 percent.

The point phase is where the edge accumulates. A point of 4 or 10 is made only 3 ways out of 9 against the 7’s 6 ways, so the pass line wins a point of 4 or 10 just one time in three. A point of 5 or 9 wins 4 times in 10, and a point of 6 or 8 wins 5 times in 11. These shortfalls, combined with the come-out wins and losses, produce the 1.41 percent figure.

The don’t pass mirrors the pass line but treats a come-out 12 as a push rather than a loss, which trims the edge to 1.36 percent and lifts RTP to 98.64 percent. It wins about 47.93 percent of decisions, loses 49.29 percent and pushes the remaining 2.78 percent on the barred 12.

What are the 3x, 4x and 5x odds rules?

The 3x, 4x and 5x odds rule caps how much you may take in odds behind a pass line or come bet: 3 times your bet on points of 4 or 10, 4 times on 5 or 9, and 5 times on 6 or 8. The caps are sized so a full odds bet returns the same amount on any point.

A 3x-4x-5x table lets you bet up to three times your pass line stake on the 4 or 10, four times on the 5 or 9, and five times on the 6 or 8. Because the odds bet pays true odds, taking the maximum lowers the average cost of your total action, since more of it sits on the zero-edge odds bet, but the pass line portion still carries its 1.41 percent edge.

Laying odds on the don’t pass or don’t come works in reverse. You lay more to win less, and the caps rise to 6 times on the 6 or 8 under the same 3x-4x-5x scheme. Some tables advertise higher multiples, such as 10x or 100x odds, which simply let you push a larger share of your action onto the zero-edge bet.

What is the house edge on every craps bet?

Here is the edge for the main craps bets. Each payout is taken from N.J.A.C. 13:69F-1.4, and the edge is calculated against the true odds of the two dice.

These figures are per bet resolved. Multi-roll bets such as the place bets are sometimes quoted with a lower per-roll figure, because the bet can sit untouched for several rolls before it is decided, but the per-bet-resolved edge is the number that matches how much the casino keeps on each completed wager.

The come and don’t come bets follow the same maths as the pass line and don’t pass, just placed after a point is established. A one-roll bet on 3 or 11 pays 15 to 1 and costs 11.11 percent, the same edge as any craps.

What is the house edge on place, buy and lay bets?

Place bets cost 1.52 percent on the 6 or 8, 4.00 percent on the 5 or 9, and 6.67 percent on the 4 or 10. Buy and lay bets pay true odds but charge a 5 percent commission, which makes them worse than placing the 6 or 8 in most cases.

You can see why the place 6 is cheap. It wins 5 ways and loses on the 6 ways a 7 can appear, so it wins 5 of 11 decisions. It pays 7 to 6, so a 6-unit stake returns 7 units profit on a win. Multiply 7 by 5 wins (35) and subtract 6 units for each of the 6 losses (36), and the net is minus 1 unit across 11 decisions, a 1.52 percent edge.

The place 4 or 10 is worse because it wins only 3 of 9 decisions but pays just 9 to 5. Buy and lay bets add a commission on top, usually 5 percent of the bet, and whether it is charged always or only on a win changes the exact cost, so check the table’s posted rules before you buy a number.

What is the house edge on place-to-lose bets?

Place-to-lose bets are the mirror of place bets, and they pay less than true odds in the same way. They cost 1.82 percent on the 6 or 8, 2.50 percent on the 5 or 9, and 3.03 percent on the 4 or 10.

New Jersey’s payout rule lists these as paying 4 to 5 on the 6 or 8, 5 to 8 on the 5 or 9, and 5 to 11 on the 4 or 10. On a place-to-lose 6, the bet wins when a 7 appears before a 6, which happens 6 times in every 11 resolutions, and the shortfall against true odds produces the 1.82 percent edge.

Few players need them, but they are the don’t-side alternative to place bets and sit close to the pass line in cost, so they are worth knowing if you prefer to bet that a number will not appear before the 7.

What is the house edge on the field, hardways and proposition bets?

The field costs 5.56 percent when both the 2 and 12 pay double, and 2.78 percent when one pays triple. Hardways cost 9.09 percent on the 6 or 8 and 11.11 percent on the 4 or 10, while any seven is the most expensive standard bet at 16.67 percent.

Any seven is easy to check. Seven appears 6 ways out of 36, so the true odds are 5 to 1, but the bet pays only 4 to 1. Across 36 rolls you collect 4 units six times (24) and lose 1 unit thirty times (30), a net of minus 6 units, which is exactly 16.67 percent of the 36 units staked.

The other one-roll proposition bets are little better. Any craps pays 7 to 1 and costs 11.11 percent, a one-roll bet on 2 or 12 pays 30 to 1 and costs 13.89 percent, and a hop bet costs 11.11 percent on an easy hop at 15 to 1 or 13.89 percent on a hard hop at 30 to 1.

How is the craps house edge calculated?

You can calculate the house edge by comparing the payout to the true odds. Multiply the payout by the probability of winning, subtract the probability of losing, and the shortfall is the edge.

For the place 6, the bet wins 5 of 11 decisions and loses 6 of 11, and pays 7 to 6. The expected value is 7/6 times 5/11 minus 1 times 6/11, which is 35/66 minus 36/66, or minus 1/66, a 1.52 percent edge.

The field works the same way. With the New Jersey schedule, the 2 and 12 pay 2 to 1 and the 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11 pay even money, so the bet wins on 16 of 36 rolls. The return is 2 units twice (for the 2 and 12) plus 1 unit fourteen times, which is 18 units against 20 losing units, a net loss of 2 units in 36, or 5.56 percent.

As a worked crypto example, stake 0.01 BTC on any seven. It wins 6 of 36 rolls and pays 4 to 1, so your expected loss per roll is 16.67 percent of the stake, about 0.00167 BTC. Bet 0.006 BTC on the place 6 instead, and the 1.52 percent edge is an expected loss of about 0.000091 BTC each time the bet is decided. These are illustrative round amounts.

Over time the edge compounds on your total handle. If you stake 0.01 BTC on any seven 100 times, your total staked is 1 BTC and the expected loss at 16.67 percent is about 0.1667 BTC. The same 1 BTC staked on the pass line at 1.41 percent would cost about 0.0141 BTC in expectation.

Does the house edge change when you play with bitcoin or other crypto?

No, the house edge does not change when you bet with bitcoin, ether, tether or another crypto, because the edge is a property of the bet and its payout, not of the currency used to fund it. A pass line bet costs 1.41 percent whether your stake is BTC, ETH, USDT or fiat.

What changes with crypto is how you move money, not the game’s maths. The live and RNG craps tables at crypto casinos are the same games run by the same providers, and Evolution launched the first online live craps on 12 November 2020, with its RNG First Person Craps variant alongside it.

If you want to verify outcomes yourself, that is where provably fair games differ. Provably fair dice games commit to a seed before you play and let you check each result against a hash afterwards, while a standard RNG or live craps table is certified by an independent testing lab rather than verified roll by roll.

How can you check a crypto casino’s craps house edge before you play?

Open the game’s information or help panel, which usually lists the return to player, then note the provider and the bet you are considering, because craps has no single RTP. A pass line bet and an any seven bet live in the same game but carry very different edges.

A quick check before you bet:

• Open the game’s info panel and read the RTP. A pass line should sit near 98.59 percent and a place 6 near 98.48 percent.
• Note the provider. Evolution supplies live craps and its First Person Craps RNG game, and the payout schedule should match the table above.
• Compare the payouts shown in the game with the New Jersey payout-odds rule, N.J.A.C. 13:69F-1.4. Casinos may pay more, never less.
• Check the casino’s licence and regulator before you deposit, and confirm the operator is still active.

How does craps compare with other casino games?

Craps holds both some of the cheapest and some of the most expensive bets in the casino, so the answer depends on which bets you make. The pass line and don’t pass sit near the bottom of the house edge range, while the prop bets sit near the top.

For a side-by-side look at where craps sits, see our pages on the roulette house edge, blackjack odds and baccarat odds. Craps basics for newcomers are in our craps rules guide, and our craps hub rounds up how the game works online.

The edge is a long-run average, so short sessions are noisy. A player can win or lose far more than the edge in a single session, but over thousands of rolls the results cluster around the expected loss, which is why the edge matters more than any single payout table entry.

Remember that a lower edge only slows the average loss, it does not turn the game into a source of income. Set a limit before you play and use the casino’s deposit and self-exclusion tools, or the guidance on our responsible gambling page. If gambling stops feeling like a choice, support is available at gamblersanonymous.org and gamblingtherapy.org.

FAQ

What is the lowest house edge bet in craps?

The odds bet has a 0 percent house edge because it pays true odds, but it must sit behind a pass line, don’t pass, come or don’t come bet. After that, the pass line and come cost 1.41 percent and the don’t pass and don’t come cost 1.36 percent.

What is the house edge on the pass line?

The pass line house edge is 1.41 percent. It pays even money and wins about 49.29 percent of decisions, so the casino keeps about 1.41 cents per dollar bet over the long run.

Which craps bets have the worst house edge?

One-roll proposition bets are the worst. Any seven costs 16.67 percent, a one-roll bet on 2 or 12 costs 13.89 percent, and any craps, the hard 4 or 10 and a one-roll bet on 3 or 11 each cost 11.11 percent.

Does the odds bet really have no house edge?

Yes. The odds bet pays true odds, which is why it has no edge, but it requires a pass line or come bet (or their don’t equivalents) and is limited to a multiple of your line bet, often 3x, 4x or 5x.

Does the house edge change when I play with crypto?

No. The house edge is a property of the bet and its payout, not the currency, so a pass line bet costs 1.41 percent whether you stake BTC, ETH, USDT or fiat.

Is craps a low house edge game compared with other games?

It can be. The pass line at 1.41 percent and the don’t pass at 1.36 percent are among the cheapest bets in the casino, and the odds bet has no edge, but craps also holds some of the highest-edge proposition bets.