Placing Bets in Craps

There are many details to learn about craps betting. It is important to increase your knowledge before you start playing in a casino.

If you want to gamble, you have to bet. You can’t make money if you don’t lay some down, but many people find the very act of laying chips or money down on the craps table to be intimidating. There are things you should learn, but you will find that craps betting isn’t all that hard. Below, some of the craps bets are explained in detail.

Pass / Don’t Pass and Other Line Bets

The “Pass” line or “Don’t Pass” line is the first bet, because the shooter (the player throwing the dice) must bet one or the other before establishing their point. The Pass line pays out if the come out roll is “Big Red” (seven) or “Yo” (eleven), and loses (by “crapping out”) if the roll is “Snake Eyes” (two), “Ace Deuce” (three - also called “Loose Deuce”), or “Boxcars” (twelve - also called “Midnight”). For any other result, the shooter has established a point, and the Pass pays if the point is made (re-rolled) before another seven turns up, and loses if “Big Red” comes back before the point. (Seven is called the “Natural” before the come out roll, and “Big Red” afterwards.) Don’t Pass is just the opposite bet - winning when pass loses and vice versa. Many players consider it impolite, however, to play the Don’t Pass line, because you are in effect betting against your felow player, the shooter.

Similarly, the “Come” and “Don’t Come” bets function like Pass and Don’t Pass, but only apply after the come-out roll has been made.

Proposition Bets

Proposition bets are also known as “single-roll” bets because they bet against a single roll, instead of against the series of rolls that the shooter will make. Most of these bets are placed by the dealers; hand them your chips, and ask them to place the bet. Reaching across the table yourself to place the chips is poor etiquette, and in some casinos is even grounds for the player to be dismissed if they do it repeatedly.

• Snake eyes - Also known as aces, this bet wins when the shooter rolls a pair of ones, for a score of 2.
• Ace-deuce - Also known as loose deuce, pays out on a score of 3.
• Big Red - Named because it’s usually symbolized on the felt by a large, red 7, and the source of the number seven’s nickname, this craps bet wins when a seven is rolled.
• Yo - Wins if the shooter rolls an 11.
• Boxcars - Also known as midnight, is a win for a roll of 12.

High-Low - Wins on either a high roll (12) or a low roll (2). This bet is in a part of the table that players shouldn’t try to reach, so they can either hand their bet to the stickman, for him to place there, or else hand it to the dealer nearest to them (on either the right or left side of the table,) and have the dealer pass the chips to the stickman.

Any Craps - Wins when the player craps out, by rolling 2, 3, or 11.