Craps is a popular casino game both online and in-person. But it can also seem overwhelming to new players. In this guide, we’ll explain how to play craps and look at the top sites for real money online craps. We’ll also provide tips for beginners and terminology explanations to make sure you’re ready to play.
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Free Online Craps
Play online craps for free, no download or signup required. If you run out of credits, simply refresh the page. New to craps? This craps demo offers a craps tutorial for both basic rules and advanced play. You can also scroll a bit further for our craps explainer below.
How To Play Online Craps for Real Money
The craps table can be an intimidating place, but once you understand the main goal and structure of craps, the table can quickly make sense. At its most basic, the craps table is split into sections representing the different types of bets that you can make. Those bets are essentially predictions on the outcome of dice rolls.
The game consists of two phases: the come out and the point. Your bets begin with the easiest two options in the game: the pass line (a bet that the shooter, or dice roller, will win) and the don’t pass line (a bet that the shooter will lose). These bets start on the first phase, a.k.a. the come out. If the roll is a 7 or 11, the pass line bettors win. If the roll is a 2, 3, or 12, don’t pass line bettors win. If any other number is rolled, that number becomes the point (marked by an “on” puck on the table), and the game moves to the second phase.
Once the game enters the second phase, the main goal is for the shooter to roll the point number again. Rolls will continue until this happens or a 7 is rolled, at which point the game ends. If 7 is rolled before a point, then players who bet with the shooter (pass line bet) will lose, whereas if a point is rolled first, players who bet with the shooter will win. This makes craps a very community-focused game. Various bets across the table will be paid out as the round continues, and we’ll cover those other bet options below.
Types of Craps Online
Standard Craps
Standard craps is just as it sounds and is a table game with some of the best odds, making it one of the best games to win money. Players will play on a virtual table with a random number generator acting as the shooter. Online, there’s often no community aspect to this type of craps, as it’s played solo on an animated table.
First-Person Craps
First-person craps is much like standard craps. It’s also played on a virtual animated table, but it adds realism by making it appear as if the player is sitting at a table instead of providing an overhead view.
Live Dealer Craps
Perhaps the most popular option for online craps, live dealer craps consists of a live stream of a real dealer and a real table, bringing the retail casino experience to players’ devices. In addition, live dealer craps usually provide a community chat, which brings in the community aspect of craps that many enjoy at land-based casinos.
Winning Online Craps
The bottom line is that the best odds of winning craps sit with the pass line and don’t pass line bets, and players may choose to ignore the rest of the table. However, there are many other bet types that can play into winning online craps. Here, we’ll help you understand the terminology and bet options available to maximize your fun and chances of winning.
Online Craps Terminology
To begin, players should understand basic craps terminology. We’ve listed the most common terms below.
- Come out roll: The first roll by a shooter to establish a point.
- Don’t pass line: A line that represents a bet that the shooter will not make a point. Bets placed here are betting against the shooter.
- Front line: Another term for the pass line.
- House edge: The odds advantage that any casino holds.
- Marking the point: The act of placing the puck on the current point number.
- Natural: When a shooter rolls a 7 or 11 on the come out roll, immediately paying out all pass line bettors.
- Pass line: A line that represents a bet that the shooter will make a point; bets placed here are known as betting with the shooter.
- Point: The number determined by the come out roll that a shooter must roll before a 7 in order to make a point.
- Quick pick: A feature that allows you to select popular bet options quickly.
Online Craps Bet Options
Now that you’ve got basic terminology down, let’s take a look at bet options. Here, we’ll provide brief descriptions of each bet, as well as provide a payout table below so that you can see the odds of each.
- Pass Line Bet: A pass line bet is betting with the shooter. This bet wins if a shooter rolls a 7 or 11 on the come out roll, or rolls their point in the second phase of the game before rolling a 7.
- Don’t Pass Line Bet: A don’t pass line bet is betting against the shooter. This bet wins if a shooter rolls a 2 or 3 roll on the come out or a 12 so long as no other numbers appear before a 7 to win (essentially a push bet). This bet also wins if the shooter rolls a 7 in the second phase of the game before rolling a point.
- Come Bet: A come bet is similar to a pass line bet but is placed after the come out roll. It’s a bet that the next number rolled will be rolled a second time before a 7.
- Don’t Come Bet: A don’t come bet is similar to a don’t pass line bet but is placed after the come out roll. It’s a bet that the next number rolled will not be rolled a second time before a 7.
- Field Bets: This is a bet on a single dice roll. It wins if the roll is a 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12. A roll of 2 lands a double payout, while a roll of 12 lands a triple payout.
- Free Odds/Laying the Odds Bets: These bets are some of the most popular options in craps as they hold no house edge. Essentially, this is a bet that the shooter will roll a 7 before rolling a specific point number.
- Place Bets: This is a bet that a specific roll will land before a 7 is thrown.
- Buy Bets: Buy bets are similar to place bets in that they are placed on a specific number being rolled before a 7. However, if a buy bet hits, the casino will pay out at true odds but take a 5% commission on winnings. Rules vary here, with some casinos only taking commission if the bet wins and others charging the commission before the dice are even thrown, so make sure to read the rulebook.
- Big Six, Big Eight: This bet pays out if a 6 or 8 is thrown before a 7.
- Hardways Bets: Hardways bets are placed on dice rolling a specific number before a 7, with both dice showing the same number. For example, a hard 6 bet would require both dice to show 3.
- 2 or 12 Bets: These are bets that the dice will roll either 2 or 12. These bets must land on the next roll and will lose if any other number is rolled.
- 3 or 11 Bets: These bets are similar to 2 or 12 bets but continue until a 7 is thrown.
- Any 7 Bet: This bet is simply wagering that a 7 will land in any combination.
- Any Craps Bet: Bet that the next roll will land on craps numbers (2, 3, or 12).
Payouts
| Bet | Payout | House Edge |
|---|---|---|
| Pass Line Odds | 2:1 | 1.41% |
| Don’t Pass Odds | 2:1 | 1.36% |
| Pass Line Odds / Come Bet Odds / Buy Bets (4 or 10) | 2:1 | 4.76% |
| Pass Line Odds / Come Bet Odds / Buy Bets (5 or 9) | 3:2 | 4.76% |
| Pass Line Odds / Come Bet Odds / Buy Bets (6 or 8) | 5:6 | 4.76% |
| Don’t Pass Odds / Don’t Come Odds / Lay Bets (4 or 10) | 2:1 | 2.44% |
| Don’t Pass Odds / Don’t Come Odds / Lay Bets (5 or 9) | 3:2 | 3.23% |
| Don’t Pass Odds / Don’t Come Odds / Lay Bets (6 or 8) | 5:6 | 4% |
| Place Bets (4 or 10) | 9:5 | 6.70% |
| Place Bets (5 or 9) | 7:5 | 4% |
| Place Bets (6 or 8) | 7:6 | 1.52% |
| Field Bets (2 or 12) | 2:1 | 5.50% |
| Field Bets (3, 4, 9, 10 or 11) | 1:1 | 5.50% |
| Hardways (4 or 10) | 7:1 | 11.10% |
| Hardways (6 or 8) | 9:1 | 9.09% |
| Any 7 | 4:1 | 16.90% |
| Any Craps | 7 to 1 | 11.10% |
| 2 Craps or 12 Craps | 30 to 1 | 13.90% |
| 3 Craps or 11 Craps | 15 to 1 | 11.10% |
| Big 6 or 8 | 1 to 1 | 9.09% |
| Horn Bet (2 or 12) | 7.5 to 1 | N/A |
| Horn Bet (3 or 11) | 3.75 to 1 | N/A |
Online Craps Strategy
While craps is a game entirely based on luck and the randomness of dice rolls, there is some strategy in the bets you choose to place, as well as other aspects of the gameplay experience. Let’s cover some below.
Play for free first.
One of the benefits of playing craps online is that you have the opportunity to play for free before wagering any of your own real money. This gives you the chance to familiarize yourself with the game itself, as well as the specific variation and ruleset that you’ll be playing at the online casino of your choice.
Stick with basic bets until you fully understand the game.
It just so happens that the two bets with the lowest house edge are also the most basic and simplest to understand. Sticking with simple bets on the pass line or don’t pass line allows you time to acclimate and potentially win while you do so.
Always bet the pass line or don’t pass line.
While pass line and don’t pass line bets are optional for everyone except the shooter, we highly recommend placing a bet there to get your game started. These bets, as mentioned above, are easy to understand and offer the lowest house edge on the table.
Consider laying odds behind the pass line.
Some casinos allow you to “lay odds,” which are additional bets, behind your pass line bet. You should consider doing so, as laying odds generally lowers the house edge even further.
Come bets give you more winning opportunities.
Come bets are essentially pass line bets in that they set more point numbers for you. Of course, there’s a balance here with how many come bets you should place, but those come bets will give you more point opportunities.
Play responsibly.
Always gamble responsibly. We’ll cover this more in detail below, but you should never wager more than you can afford to lose. In a game like craps, where bets can get confusing, you may be losing more money than you anticipated (and you may not even understand how).
Why Play Craps Online?
Playing casino games online comes with many benefits, and many of those extend to playing online craps. Below, we’ve listed just some reasons why playing online is better than playing in land-based casinos.
✅ Lower minimum bets: Much like other online games, craps online will generally have lower minimum bets as compared to its land-based counterparts. For example, some land-based craps games may hold a $10 minimum, while many online craps games hold a $0.10 minimum.
✅ Faster pace: There’s no waiting around for shooters online and no manual bet placement. These factors create a faster-paced game with less time wasted. If you so desire, you can slow down and go at your own pace in most online craps variants (excluding live dealer games).
✅ Convenience: Playing whenever you want and wherever you want is obviously a huge plus. In addition, you don’t have to travel to your local casino to get going.
✅ No peer pressure: Craps is, in its nature, a social game. Being the shooter is a stressful job, where many players place their bet outcomes on your shoulders as you’re the one who rolls the dice. Also, you are often considered the villain for betting against the shooter on wagers such as the don’t pass line. None of these problems exist in online craps, so all players, especially beginners, can feel comfortable.
✅ Better learning environment: When playing virtual craps, you can set your own pace. Take your time to place your bets and learn without the pressure of having other players in your game.
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