Craps odds.
Two dice, thirty-six outcomes, one chart. How often each number rolls, what every bet on the layout really costs, and why the odds bet is the only one worth taking.
Thirty-six ways
7 rolls 6 ways · 16.7% · 5:1 againstSeven is the most common total because it has the most ways to happen, six of thirty-six. Every other number has fewer. That one imbalance is the whole house edge.
Making the point
Chance the point repeats before a sevenOnce a point is set, only two numbers matter: the point and the seven. Free odds pay these true ratios exactly, which is why they carry no edge. Place bets pay a little less than true, and the gap is the house's cut.
House edge, every bet
Expected loss per dollar betPays 2:1 on 4/10, 3:2 on 5/9, 6:5 on 6/8. The only zero-edge bet on the floor.
If the commission is charged up front the edge is 4.76%.
Everything worth betting is at the top of this list. The middle of the table, the hardways and one-roll props, pays the loudest and costs eight to twelve times more per dollar than the line.
Why odds matter
Pass line edge on all money at risk, by odds multipleThe flat bet always costs 1.41% (1.36% on don't pass). Odds add zero-edge money on top, so the blended rate on what you have out there falls as the multiple rises. Take the maximum the table allows and size your flat bet so the total is comfortable.
The strategy
- Bet the pass line or don't pass, and take or lay full odds once the point is set.
- Want more numbers working? Place the 6 and 8, in multiples of $6. Nothing else on the layout comes close.
- Skip the field, the hardways, the Big 6 and 8, and every one-roll bet in the middle. The stickman's job is to sell them.
- Nobody can influence the dice. Hot and cold shooters are what a fair distribution looks like in small samples.
- Decide the session budget before the first roll and log the result either way.
Odds don't change the hourly cost. They change how much you get paid when the point hits.
Roll it
Observed share of each total against the true oddsDashed marks are the true probabilities. Thirty-six rolls look like anything. A few thousand look like the dashes. Your session sits somewhere in between, which is what variance is.
Edges assume standard Las Vegas rules. Some rooms pay 3:1 on the field twelve, charge buy commission only on wins, or offer 10x and 100x odds; each of those moves a number here in your favor.