How to Play and Win at Online Craps

How to Play Online Craps

Trying to get your head around this game can be tricky, especially if you follow a description that isn't particularly clear! The best way to start thinking about this unique game is in the initial 'qualifying' part and the main part of the game, both of which make up a single round.

Traditional craps played at a land-based casino can involve up to 20 players at a time, with players taking turns to be the shooter - that is, the one who throws the dice - until their turn is over. In contrast, the other non-shooting players can place bets based on what they think the shooter will or won't shoot.

Online craps vary slightly from the land-based casino game in that you are always the shooter since it's a one-player game (except in live dealer craps). Before we get into what a round of online craps looks like, let's take a look at the craps table itself and the various bets that you can choose from and when they are available.

The Craps Table

An online craps table typically consists of a green felted area that features a grid containing various dice combinations, usually to one side, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 along the top, a Pass Line along the bottom that extends around to one side, a Don't Pass section that's just above the Pass Line, a Field rectangle above that, a Come rectangle above that, and a smaller Don't Come to square above that to the left of the numbers along the top.

The puck or button is also visible on online craps tables, which have an On and an Off-side. This is used to indicate what stage of the round is active and which number is the Point (we'll define this later). Sounds complicated, right? At this stage, having looked at the table, most people decide this game isn't for them! However, stick with it, and you'll see that online craps are actually pretty straightforward once you know the rules.

Central to the game is the pair of dice used to determine the outcomes you can bet on, which we'll look at in a bit more detail next.

The Craps Bets

Each section of the table represents a different bet that you can make during gameplay, though it's important to note that not all bets are available since there are two parts to a round of craps, each with its collection of bets. To help you understand this, let's look at the different changes as they apply to each part of the game. Initial 'qualifying' bets (active when button/puck is Off):

• Pass Line: This is the standard starting bet made on the first 'come out roll. To win this bet, the dice must land with 7 or 11. This bet loses if the dice land on 2, 3 or 12 (craps).

• Don't Pass: The reverse of the above is that this bet wins if the come-out roll lands on 2, 3 or 12 and loses if the dice land on 7 or 11.

• Field: This bet wins if the dice outcome is 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 or 12.

• Dice outcomes: Some of the dice outcome bets at the side of the table are active during this initial stage and can be used to predict how the dice will fall. Any Craps means a 2, 3 or 12.

• Place bets: Though the numbers themselves are not active during the initial stage of the round, you can still bet that a number won't come by placing your chip on the line above the number.

Main game bets (active when button/puck is On):

• Come: Just like the Pass Line bet, this bet wins if the dice land on 7 or 11 and loses on a 2, 3 or 12.

• Don't Come: Just like the Don't Pass bet, this is if the dice land on 2, 3 or 12 and loses on 7 or 11.

• Field: This bet wins if the dice outcome is 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 or 12.

• Dice outcomes: All dice outcome options are available during this round stage. A bet on two 6s pays if the dice land as such, for example.

• Place bets: During this stage, you can bet that a number will or won't come up by placing your chips on the line below or above the number respectively.

Step by Step

Still confused? Don't worry! Let's put it all into perspective now by taking you through a round of online craps step by step:

1. The first part of an online craps game is what we've referred to as the 'qualifying' stage of the match (indicated by button/puck Off). Here, you must bet on Pass or Don't Pass by placing your chips on your chosen bet.

2. You land the dice, with the outcome determining your bet result as described above: 7 or 11 wins and 2, 3 or 12 lose the Pass bet, while 2, 3 or 12 wins and 7 or 11 lose the Don't Pass bet. UnlessBety other number is rolled here, that's the end of the round, and a new qualifying stage begins.

3. Any other number rolled progresses the round to the main stage (indicated by button/puck On) with that number set as the Point and marked as such by the button/puck over that number on the table.

4. All the other bet types are then available, giving you the option of betting that the Point will or won't be rolled, the dice outcome, etc. Place your chips on your best bets.

5. You'll then roll the dice until the Point, or a 7 comes up, with the opportunity to place additional bets between rolls. Once the Point or a 7 is rolled, the main stage of the round comes to an end, and a new qualifying stage starts. (In land-based casino craps and live craps, moving the Point means you remain as the shooter for the next round, whereas rolling 7 means the next player is the shooter in the next game.)

As you can see, there are not many steps involved in a round of online craps! The trickiest part of learning to play the game is understanding the various bets and when you can place them, which is why we went through those first!

How to Win Craps

Now that you have a better idea of how the game works let's look at how you win playing online craps. Winning at the online craps table involves correctly predicting the outcome of a dice roll, but this can be done in many ways, as we saw earlier with the number of different available bets. The best way of learning how to win is knowing the different bet types and what they mean, which we covered above, and knowing what each bet type pays out if you do best, which we'll cover next.

Payouts With Craps

If you think about the roll of two dice, the laws of probability state that certain outcomes are more likely than others. This can best be illustrated using an example: there are several ways of landing a 7 (e.g. 4 and 3, 5 and 2, 6 and 1), but there's only one way to land a 2 (1 and 1). This results in the different bets carrying different payouts accordingly. Let's check out the other bets again, this time with their corresponding payouts:

• Pass/Come: Evens (1:1)

• Don't Pass/Don't Come: Evens (1:1)

• Pass/Come/Buy bets:

  • 4 or 10: 2:1

  • 5 or 9: 3:2

  • 6 or 8: 5:6

• Don't Pass/Don't Come/Lay bets:

  • 4 or 10: 1:2

  • 5 or 9: 2:3

  • 6 or 8: 5:6

• Field bets:

  • 3, 4, 9, 10, 11: Evens (1:1)

  • 2: 2:1

  • 12: 3:1

• Place bets:

  • 4 or 10: 9:5

  • 5 or 9: 7:5

  • 6 or 8: 7:6

• Dice outcomes:

  • Any 7: 4:1

  • Pair of 2s, 5s or any craps: 7:1

  • Pair of 3s or 4s: 9:1

  • 3 or 11: 15:1

  • Pair of 1s or 6s: 30:1

As you can see, the bets with the highest payout odds are those with the lowest chance of coming up, and conversely, the bets with the highest probability of coming up carry the lowest payouts. You can use this knowledge to decide what bets to place to not only win but win a decent amount by balancing your low payout and high payout bets.

Online Craps Strategies

If you're keen to learn some tips for potentially boosting your chances of winning, you'll be pleased to know that there are a few things you can try. Although the game is all about dice outcomes, which are pretty much impossible to predict (and even more so when it comes to the RNG determined outcomes of online craps games), you can still get a bit of an edge by choosing your bets wisely and maybe trying a strategy or two. Check out a few online craps strategies and tips below.

Pass Bet

The best online craps strategy when you're just starting is to stick with a simple bet that you can follow, and that is the Pass Line bet. Place a chip on this area of the table during the qualifying stage, and if you roll a 7 or 11, you win. This bet has a house edge, making it perfect for introductory play.

Don't Pass/Don't Come Bet

While the Don't Pass bet effectively reverses the rule for Pass Line bets, with a 2, 3 or 12 resulting in a win at the qualifying stage of the round, the Don't Come bet allows Bet to carry that strategy through to the main stage too, betting that the point won't be rolled.

Press Strategy

Involving the Place bets, the idea here is to use winnings to keep winning, with minimal bankroll investment. Players will choose the Place bet on a specific number, and if it wins, they will double their bet on it uBetg the winnings and a small input from their bankroll as necessary. The strategy calls for this action until you win four times in a row, then you take your profits. Obviously, the odds against rolling the same number four times in a row are pretty high, but you might have fun trying this strategy all the same.

6/8 Strategy

This progression strategy involves Place numbers 6 and 8, as the name suggests. Players will choose the Place bet on 6 and 8 and if either comes up, they take their profits. If neither come up, they double their stake for the next roll. Why 6 and 8? These are statistically the most commonly rolled numbers after 7.

Do You Want to Play Online Craps?

So there you have it! That's everything you need to know about how to play and win at online craps. Ready to give it a shot for yourself? Simply join any of the carefully reviewed online casinos featured on this site, make your first deposit then start playing online craps - have fun!