Craps Strategy

Is there a Best Practice Craps Strategy to Implement?

Craps is one of the most high-energy casino games in the world. It is bubbling over with excitement, and there are always lots of players eager to place their bets. On the surface of it, craps appears to be a simple game of dice. Bet on numbers, roll the dice, and collect your winnings, if you’re lucky. The manner in which craps is played at land-based casinos and online casinos varies. For one thing, online casino players do not physically hold the dice and roll the dice. The Random Number Generators (RNGs) responsible for each dice roll ensure as close to a random outcome as possible. The ideal craps strategy for a Las Vegas casino differs markedly from that used at an online casino, and we will explore both options in some detail in this Casinofy craps guide. To kick things off, you must decide which way you’re going to play. In craps, you can either bet on the craps shooter or you bet against the craps shooter. Either bet is perfectly acceptable, although it is fashionable to bet with a shooter if the person is on a roll.

Are You Allowed to Manipulate the Dice in Craps?

Strategy is an interesting word when it comes to chance-based games at a casino. It encompasses a plan of action that is designed to help achieve specific objectives such as maximizing enjoyment, maximizing gameplay, and maximizing profitability. It should be stated straight off the bat that no amount of strategizing can guarantee a favorable outcome in a game of craps. What is assured is the best possible ‘plan of action’ to enhance your craps gaming sessions. Incidentally, legend has it that certain people have been able to ‘control the roll’ of the craps dice to ensure favorable rolls over the years.

In the absence of the physical manipulation, disfigurement, or use of faulty dice, there is no way to guarantee a specific outcome when dice roll across the table, bounce off the back wall, and ultimately come to rest. In online craps games, there is no physical handling of any dice. Players simply press a button to place bets, and roll the dice. The results are determined by sophisticated computer software (RNGs), and the outcomes are immediately posted. At a physical game of craps, players are given 5 dice, and asked to select any 2. This is done to give players the option of having a degree of control over the dice they choose to roll.

Having said that, there are a certain bet in craps that are better suited to winning outcomes than others. Just like in baccarat, where the best bet is the banker bet (the lowest house edge at 1.06%), this is the only bet that players should ever place in baccarat. To get things started, it is worth assessing the house edge on Pass Line Bets on craps – 1.41% – that’s marginally higher than blackjack at 0.46%, but substantially less than the odds of American Roulette at 5.26%, Three Card Poker at 3.37%, Let it Ride at 3.51%, and Casino War at 2.90%. It should be stressed that there is no single house edge on craps because there are so many different bets that you can place. There are good bets and bad bets, much like baccarat and roulette. The bad bet in craps is the Any Craps, with an attendant house edge of 11.11%.

Are There Any Ways to Win at Craps?

Winning at craps is simply the result of placing a bet that wins. Sometimes you bet with the craps shooter, sometimes you bet against the craps shooter. There is no way whatsoever to eliminate the house edge in a game of craps. It is built into the game, much like it is with every other casino game. A select number of land-based craps players are able to control the dice to a degree, but they are few and far between. For the rest of us, the best strategy to win at craps requires a mix of bet selection, bankroll management, and careful understanding of the odds of the game. Legendary craps players have put forth their winning strategies for the game. Some experts argue that the formulation of an effective craps strategy is an incredibly time-consuming process that is fraught with challenges.

Nonetheless, there are ways to make money in craps if you’re prepared to try different tactics and strategies. For example, it is unpopular to bet against the craps shooter, but this particular bet may prove particularly lucrative. The players who bet on Don’t Pass typically get to enjoy better payouts, even though this tends to break up the solidarity of the game. Other options to consider are betting strategies vis-a-vis incremental winnings or big winnings. In this vein, it’s worth reiterating the different types of bets and payouts that are available in craps:

Based on the above table, you can pick the bets that generate the types of odds you are looking for. A craps player with an incremental strategy would take high-frequency betting outcomes with lower odds, over high payout odds with the low probabilities of occurrence. An example of a high payout is 30:1 on boxcars or snake eyes. An example of a low payout, high probability outcome is 7:1 on a 2, 3, or 12 roll. The Pass and Come strategies are useful because they have the lowest house edge, but the downside is that when you bet on different numbers, you’re risking a lot of money at the same time.

Remember if a 7 comes up, you can lose all of your bets with a single outcome. Then of course, there are other strategies to implement such as Don’t Pass and Don’t Come and putting odds on the numbers. Once again, these are really low house edge betting strategies, but the size of your bets can swell out of proportion pretty quickly, even with small initial bets upfront. The best way to go about it is to set up a budget well ahead of time, and determine how much you’re prepared to bet on each dice roll.

This craps strategy guide is intended to provide a solid foundation for craps players – online and at land-based casinos alike. Kindly refer to the Casinofy guides on craps rules, and how to play craps for further information.