Craps is one of the most exciting gambling pastimes. This is partly due to its low house edge and pure luck of the dice. Players have won countless amounts in the past. You certainly can too if you know the best craps bets to place.
For those who aren’t too familiar with the game, you can practice and play craps for free at Slots of Vegas to get a feel for it first. Then, once you’re a bit more confident, you can play craps for real money! We’ve detailed a few different bets you might not have come across in the game of craps. There are also a few interesting facts to gear you up for your next sessions at the virtual tables.
Call 6 or 8 to Win
Placing a 6 or 8 to win is amongst one of the best bets you can go for in craps. The payout ratio is 7:6, and the house edge sits at 1.52%. This means that the player is likely to lose around $1.52 per $100 bet. Place these types of wagers in $6 increments, until one is wagering over $20. After that, $3 additions are allowed to follow.
There are misconceptions that these kind of ‘Place’ wagers are the best bets to put down in craps. Players can decide whether to call them off at any point. But for this conviction to be legit, a player would need to call of their bets more than 80% of the time throughout the game. Which is practically unheard of in genuine craps games! Still, 6 or 8 to win is better than going for a Big 6 or Big 8. The house edge for both sits at 9.09%.
Call 6 or 8 to Lose, Avoid 7
With this craps bet you do the exact opposite of the bet above; you put down a place-to-lose bet on 6 or 8 using multiples of $5. The house edge is 1.82 % (meaning the player can expect to lose $1.82 per $100 bets on either the 6 or 8). It may be a little higher than the place-to-win bet, but 7 is considered the best number in craps. This is because it rolls out more often than most numbers. So you could win $4 if the shooter rolls a 7.
Saying that…
Actually betting on a 7 is the worst move you could make, simply because 7 is a single-roll number. This puts the house edge for a 7 at 16.67%. This means that there may be 7 ways to win the game, but there’s 30 ways to lose as well. So our advice is to avoid the 7 bets if you want a chance to receive a higher payout.
Place 4 or 10
In this bet, you are required to lay $40 down on the table initially. Next, tell the banker to lay it against the 4 or 10. The house edge for this bet is pretty high at 2.44%. But if you win, you get a nice $20, and the 1% commission means your risk total will only sit at $41. It’s worth noting that if the house charges commission on winning bets only, this significantly reduces the house edge on everything. This would bring the house edge down on a bet to lay a 4 or 10 to just 1.67%.
Call 5 or 9 to Lose
Putting down a Place to Lose bet on 5 or 9 will see a payout proportion of 5:8. You would need to wager $8 bets for either of these numbers to lose. This automatically puts the house edge at 2.50% giving them a slightly better advantage than a Place to Win bet. However, if someone rolls the number 4 or 10, the ratio is somewhere in the range of 5 and 11. You would need to wager at least $11 at a time or multiples of this figure in order to win. This would in turn put the house advantage at 3.03%.
5 Interesting Facts about Craps
Fact #1 – The word “craps”, originated from the French word “crapaud,” which means toad. The game gained this moniker because people who played threw dice while crouched like toads along sidewalks. Also, the game itself was brought to the U.S. by way of English gaming “halls” where they played a game called Hazard. This is where the concept of the craps game was born.
Fact #2 – Lady Luck supposedly ‘blesses’ the dice by blowing on it every time it is rolled.
Fact #3 – Craps dice are purposefully made to be transparent. This is so the person in the box can easily tell whether the dice is counterfeit or has been tampered with.
Fact #4 – Craps is one of the games with the least number of tables inside brick-and-mortar casinos. This is because it requires 4 people to manage each table. They include: a box person, two dealers who put down the bets, and an additional person known as a “stick man” plays the role of providing the players with the dice.
Fact #5 – One of the most common myths surrounding the game of craps is that the number 7 is practically a curse at the craps table. Statistically however, this is the number which is most likely to appear ahead of any other numbers.
Closing Thoughts
Craps bets can be a bit of a hard one to grasp at first. Bit it’s still a highly casino enjoyable game played by many. If you want to truly enhance your craps skills, studying the different bets available. Then utilize them as part of a solid strategy. Craps is a game of chance. But you can be mindful with your bets. This can be the difference between multiplying your wins and doubling your losses.
