How Craps Works
Craps looks chaotic — a crowded table, a wall of bets, people shouting at two tumbling dice. But the heart of the game is simple. Almost everything revolves around one bet, the Pass line, and one number that ends rounds: the 7. Learn that spine and the rest of the table stops being intimidating.
The come-out roll
Every round starts with a come-out roll. The shooter throws two dice, and on that first throw the Pass line bet resolves immediately for some totals:
- Roll a 7 or 11 — the Pass line wins even money. This is a "natural."
- Roll a 2, 3, or 12 — this is "craps," and the Pass line loses.
- Roll a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 — that number becomes the point, and the round continues.
Establishing a point
Once a point is set, the goal flips. The shooter keeps rolling, and now you're waiting to see one of two numbers. If the point is rolled again before a 7, the Pass line wins. If a 7 shows first, you "seven out" and the Pass line loses. Any other total in between simply doesn't matter — the dice just roll again.
Notice the role reversal. On the come-out, 7 was your friend. The instant a point is established, 7 becomes the enemy. That single number doing two opposite jobs is what makes craps feel alive and what gives the round its tension.
Why the 7 rules the table: with two dice, 7 is the most likely total — it comes up 6 ways out of 36. After a point is set, the 7 is more likely than any single point number, which is exactly why the house holds an edge on the Pass line.
Pass vs Don't Pass
The Don't Pass bet is the near-mirror image. It wins when the Pass line loses — a 2 or 3 on the come-out, or a 7 rolled before the point. It loses on a come-out 7 or 11. The one quirk: a come-out 12 (or sometimes 2, depending on the table) is a push, a tie that returns your bet rather than paying it. That single "barred" number is how the casino keeps a small edge even on the bet that's siding against the shooter.
Both bets carry a house edge of roughly 1.4% — among the best you'll find on a casino floor. They are the foundation everything else is built on.
The Field, Place bets, and the rest
Beyond the line bets, the layout fills with options. The Field is a one-roll bet that the next total is 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12 — seven numbers, which sounds generous until you notice the missing 5, 6, 7, and 8 are the most common totals. Place bets let you wager that a specific number (say, 6 or 8) rolls before a 7, paid at fixed odds. And then there are the flashy proposition bets in the center of the table — single-roll wagers on a specific total or combination.
The trap is that not all bets are created equal. The line bets sip a little over 1% from you. The center props gulp far more.
Different bets, very different edges
Here's a small sample of common craps bets and the rough house edge each carries. The spread is enormous:
| Bet | What it does | Approx. house edge |
|---|---|---|
| Pass / Don't Pass | The core line bet | ~1.41% / ~1.36% |
| Place 6 or 8 | Number rolls before a 7 | ~1.52% |
| Field | One-roll on 2,3,4,9,10,11,12 | ~2.78% (varies) |
| Any 7 | One-roll on a 7 | ~16.7% |
| Hardways / props | Specific combinations | ~9% to 11%+ |
The lesson writes itself: the bets that pay the loudest cost the most. A 16.7% edge on "Any 7" means that for every dollar bet, you give up about 17 cents on average — more than ten times the bite of the Pass line. Knowing which bets are cheap and which are expensive is most of what "knowing craps" really means.
On Riskr, the Craps table runs on these exact rules — the come-out, the point, the seven-out — except the chips are fake and the only stake is your spot on the leaderboard. It's a risk-free way to feel how the 7 controls the table.