Craps is loud, fast, and brutal if you don’t know what you’re doing. You either show up with a plan, or you feed the table. Simple as that.
This Craps Guide pillar page is your hub. From here, you’ll get straight‑talk links to the only parts of craps that actually matter: low‑edge bets, simple strategies, and bankroll rules that stop you torching your roll in ten minutes.
Start Here: How Craps Actually Works (Without The Fluff)
If you’re new to craps, the table looks like a mad spider diagram of boxes, arrows, and nonsense. Ignore 80% of it.
At its core, craps is just this:
- Shooter rolls two dice
- Certain totals win/lose immediately
- Otherwise a “point” is set, and you’re betting on whether that point hits again before a 7
On your way out of this hub, you’ll find:
- A simple “How to Play Craps” walkthrough with real examples
- What “come out roll”, “point”, “seven out”, and “shooter” actually mean
- A step‑by‑step first‑session script: where to put your chips and when
If you’re at zero knowledge, your first click from this page is the Beginner Craps Rules & First Session Guide. Learn the flow once, and the whole game suddenly makes sense.
The Only Bets New Players Should Touch
Here’s the hard truth: most bets on a craps table are garbage for your bankroll. Fun, sure. Smart, no.
The good stuff – and the pages you’ll find linked from here – focus on:
- Pass Line – House edge around 1.41%, one of the best bets in the entire casino.
- Don’t Pass – Similar idea, you’re basically betting against the shooter, with a slightly lower edge than Pass Line.
- Come / Don’t Come – Same logic as Pass/Don’t Pass, just after a point is set.
- Odds bets – The only bet in the casino with zero house edge. Yes, zero.
- Place 6 and 8 – Low‑ish edge (around 1.5%) and hit often.
That’s your core. Everything else is “optional entertainment” at best and a slow bleed at worst.
There’ll be specific guides linked from this pillar for:
- Pass Line + Odds explained with real stake examples
- Don’t Pass + Odds for people happy to be the “villain” at the table
- Simple “Pass + Place 6 and 8” set‑ups that give you action without wrecking your numbers
Odds Bets: The Part Nearly Everyone Underuses
If you only take one thing from this entire Craps Guide, let it be this: learn what odds bets are and always use them when your bankroll allows.
An odds bet is the extra bet you put behind your Pass/Don’t Pass or Come/Don’t Come once a point is set. It’s paid at true odds – no built‑in edge.
Typical payouts:
House edge on the odds part? 0.00%.
On this pillar you’ll see links to:
- “Pass Line + Max Odds Strategy” – how to keep your main bet sensible and push harder on the odds only
- “Come Bets + Odds Walkthrough” – if you want more points working at once without wandering into high‑edge junk
If you’re playing craps without using odds, you’re basically choosing to tip the house more than you need to.
What To Avoid: The Shiny Bet Traps
Craps is full of sucker bets that exist because players like noise, not because they make sense.
Bets you’ll learn to avoid or treat as pure fun money:
- Any 7
- Any Craps
- Horn bets
- Hardways (especially long‑term)
- Big 6 and Big 8
- One‑roll “lottery” style bets with big payouts and fat edges
We’ll have a dedicated section you can click into called something like “Craps Bets To Avoid If You Actually Care About Your Bankroll” where we:
- List each bad bet
- Show the house edge
- Compare “what you could have bet instead”
Example: Big 6 / Big 8 have around a 9% edge, while just placing the 6 or 8 is roughly 1.5% and pays better. Same numbers, different box, completely different long‑term result.
Real Craps Strategies (Not “Systems”)
You’ll see loads of gimmicky craps systems online: iron cross, 6/8 press‑to-the-moon patterns, Martingale‑style progressions, and so on. Most are just fancy ways to describe variance.
From this pillar page, you’ll be able to jump to real strategy articles built around three ideas:
- Low house edge first – Pass/Don’t Pass, Come/Don’t Come, Odds, Place 6/8.
- Controlled exposure – how many bets you should realistically have working at once given your bankroll.
- Flat or small, controlled presses – no doubling every loss nonsense.
Expect guides like:
- “Pass Line + Odds + Single Come Bet Strategy” – bread‑and‑butter, low edge, easy to follow.
- “Place 6 & 8 Only Strategy” – for people who want it stupidly simple and reasonably solid.
- “Simple Pressing Strategy That Won’t Blow Your Roll” – small presses on wins, not martingale Hail Marys.
If you want to nerd out deeper, we’ll also touch on the maths behind house edge and why “hot table systems” don’t magically bend it.
Bankroll Management: The Best Craps Strategy You’ll Ever Use
Craps is high‑variance. You can have insane hot rolls and then ten brutal minutes where the 7 seems glued to the dice. The only way you survive that is with a clean bankroll plan.
From this Craps Guide hub, you’ll find clear bankroll content covering:
- Separating total gambling bankroll from normal life money
- Splitting that into session bankrolls so one bad session doesn’t nuke everything
- Setting loss limits and win goals before you even touch the rail
Typical ideas you’ll see broken down:
- Bet size around 1–2% of your total session bankroll per roll (especially if you’ve got multiple bets working).
- Reasonable session win goals, not “I must triple the roll or bust”.
- “Guarantee and excess” style approach – lock in a base amount you’re not dropping below, skim profits once you get ahead.
You will also see a very clear message repeated: avoid chasing, avoid doubling up after losses, and treat systems like Martingale and Fibonacci as bankroll killers, not solutions.
Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced: Where You Go Next
This pillar isn’t just a random article. It’s the map.
From here, you’ll have clearly labelled paths:
Beginner Craps
- How the game works, from come‑out roll to seven‑out
- Pass Line basics and why it’s your first bet
- A “first 30 minutes at the table” script so you don’t feel lost
Intermediate Craps
- Pass/Come + Odds strategies with examples at common table minimums
- Place bets on 6 and 8: how to use them and when to pull them down
- Practical bankroll setups for weekend or trip play
Advanced Craps
- Detailed odds breakdowns and house edge tables if you actually care about the maths
- Pressing, regression, and hybrid approaches – what’s real and what’s just action
- How to structure a full session plan (bet sizes, number of points you’ll run, when to walk)
Pick the level that matches where you are now. Don’t jump straight into “12 bets working at once” because some video made it look fun.
What This Craps Guide Pillar Is For
This page exists to:
- Strip the noise out of craps and show you what actually matters
- Point you to focused guides on rules, good bets, bad bets, and money management
- Help you enjoy the game without being the guy turbo‑donating on bad prop bets
What it won’t do is promise you a magic system or pretend you can beat the house just by “following this one chart”. That’s nonsense.
If you want to:
- Lose slower
- Play longer
- Give yourself a fair swing at walking away ahead
…then use this Craps Guide as home base. Start with the basics, move into solid low‑edge strategies, then layer in bankroll discipline.
Craps is one of the best games in the casino if you play it smart. This pillar page is here to make sure you’re one of the few who actually do.