Atlassino Academy · Craps · Lesson 4 of 12
Odds: the bet without an edge
The odds bet behind the pass line is paid at the true odds of the point, so the house keeps nothing from it. Here is what it pays, how much may go down, and why the hour still costs the same.
Your $10 is on the pass line, and the come-out roll has set a point of 6. You may now put a second bet behind the pass line bet, called odds. What does that second bet cost you?
The short answer
Nothing, in price. The odds bet is paid at the true odds of the point, 6 to 5 on a 6, so over many decisions the odds bet gives back exactly what it takes. In British Columbia, the odds bet may be up to 5 times the pass line bet on a 6. What the odds bet adds is swing: the price of the hour stays what the pass line bet alone costs, and the distance an evening can travel either way grows several times over.
A point of 6, a pass line bet, and odds behind the pass line bet
- P$10 on the pass line, paid even money when the point comes
- O$50 odds, behind the pass line bet, paid 6 to 5 when the point comes
Leoformer dealer · rules and maths
The odds bet is the easiest bet at a craps table to miss. It does not sit in a box with its name on it; it sits behind the pass line bet it belongs to, and plenty of people stand at a table all evening without making it.
What “true odds” means
Two dice can fall 36 ways, and 6 of those ways make a 7. Once the point is set, every roll that is neither the point nor a 7 changes nothing for the pass line bet, so the decision comes down to one race: the point against a 7. A 6 can be rolled 5 ways, so a 6 comes before a 7 in 5 in 11 decisions.
A 4 or a 10
3 ways to roll the point against 6 ways to roll a 7: the odds bet is paid 2 to 1
A 5 or a 9
4 ways to roll the point against 6 ways to roll a 7: the odds bet is paid 3 to 2
A 6 or an 8
5 ways to roll the point against 6 ways to roll a 7: the odds bet is paid 6 to 5
Dark squares are the ways to roll the point, pale squares the ways to roll a 7. The fewer ways a point has, the more the odds bet pays.
Paying the odds bet at the ways against the point, 6 to 5 on a 6, gives back over many decisions exactly what the odds bet takes. That is what true odds means, and that is how the odds bet is paid. So the odds bet has no edge: its price is 0%.
A place bet on the same 6 is paid 7 to 6, a little short of 6 to 5. The gap between the two payouts is the price of the place bet, and place bets have a lesson of their own, 5.7.
| Point | Ways to roll the point | Ways to roll a 7 | The point comes first in | The odds bet is paid | Price of the odds bet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 or 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 in 3 | 2 to 1 | 0% |
| 5 or 9 | 4 | 6 | 2 in 5 | 3 to 2 | 0% |
| 6 or 8 | 5 | 6 | 5 in 11 | 6 to 5 | 0% |
Read the last column down: the price of the odds bet is the same on every point. The payout changes from row to row because the race between the point and a 7 changes from row to row, and the payout follows the race exactly.
Where the odds bet goes, and when
The odds bet needs a line bet to sit behind: it goes behind the pass line bet it belongs to, and it cannot be made on its own. The odds bet is a bet on the point, so it can go down only once the come-out roll has set a point.
- Before the come-out rollA pass line bet goes down. Nothing can go behind the pass line bet yet.
- The come-out rollA 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 becomes the point.
- Once the point is setOdds may go behind the pass line bet, up to the most the table allows.
- The deciding rollThe point before a 7 pays both bets; a 7 first takes both.
- The odds bet may come down at any timeTaking the odds bet off the table costs nothing and changes nothing about the price.
- The pass line bet stays once the point is setThe pass line bet under the odds stays until the point or a 7 decides it.
Odds behind come bets are lesson 5.5. Odds behind a don’t pass bet, called laying odds, are lesson 5.6.
How much odds the table allows
How much odds may go behind the pass line bet depends on the point. In the rules BCLC publishes for casinos in British Columbia, the odds bet may be up to 3 times the pass line bet on a 4 or 10, 4 times on a 5 or 9, and 5 times on a 6 or 8: 3-4-5 for short.
| Point | Most odds, times the pass line bet | The most odds behind an example $10 pass line bet | The odds bet is paid | Paid on the line and behind the line together |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 or 10 | 3 times | $30 | $60 | $70 |
| 5 or 9 | 4 times | $40 | $60 | $70 |
| 6 or 8 | 5 times | $50 | $60 | $70 |
The pass line bet here is only an example; no room page we could read prints a craps table minimum. Amounts are in Canadian dollars.
Rules for the casinos of a province are not a promise about the table in front of you. The table posts its own limits, and those are the figures that apply when the odds bet goes down.
The same price an hour, a bigger swing
The pass line bet costs 1.41% of the money bet on it, over many decisions. Put the most odds behind every point, and the money on the table per decision grows, on average, from $10 to $37.78. Measured against all of that money, the price falls to 0.374%. In dollars nothing has changed: the house keeps, on average, what it kept from the pass line bet alone, because the odds bet adds nothing to that.
| At the table | Money on the table per decision, on average | Price, as a share of that money | Price of an hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| The pass line bet alone | $10 | 1.41% | $2.55 |
| The pass line bet with the most odds on every point | $37.78 | 0.374% | $2.55 |
The hour here is 18 pass-line decisions, at the pace casino rating systems are set to: no Canadian document we could read prints how many decisions a craps table makes in an hour.
What the odds bet does change is the swing.
One decision, with the point at 6
The pass line bet alone
down $10 · up $10
With the most odds behind the line
down $60 · up $70
An hour of 18 decisions: 8 hours in 10 end between
The pass line bet alone
down $60 · up $60
With the most odds behind the line
down $270 · up $270
To the left of the middle line, what can be lost; to the right, what can come back. The average loss of the hour is the same in both lower bars; only the distance either side of it has grown.
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Odds add no price and add swing: take them only if the bigger stake fits your limit. Count the odds into the evening’s money before you leave home, not after a loss.
If a run of sevens leaves you wanting to put more behind the line to get it back, that is the moment to stop. A bigger bet does not bring back what is already gone, and the lines below are there for exactly that feeling.
If it stops being fun
If gambling stops being entertainment, help is available. 19+ in most of Canada; 18+ in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. More on responsible gaming.
Practice: take the odds
Every bet here is at a table where the point is already set. Level 1: the point comes, and you work out what the odds bet is paid. Level 2: you say the most odds the rules on this page allow behind a given pass line bet. Level 3: one roll settles the round, and you say what happens to the pass line bet and the odds bet together.
Nothing is bet here, and nothing is random. Each roll is a set picture, and every answer is worked out by the same dice engine as the rest of this page.
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Level 1 · What the odds are paid
The point is 6 · the dice show 1 and 5
- P$10 on the pass line
- O$50 odds, behind the pass line bet
The point is 6, and the shooter rolls a 6. What is the odds bet paid? Count the payout only: the odds chips themselves go back to you beside the payout.
- $50 That is the odds bet paid even money, the way the pass line bet in front of it is paid. The odds bet is paid at the true odds of the point, 6 to 5, and not one to one.
- $60 There are 6 ways to roll a 7 and 5 ways to roll a 6, so the true odds of the point are 6 to 5, and $50 at 6 to 5 is $60.
- $58.33 That is 7 to 6, what a place bet on a 6 pays. The odds bet behind the line is paid 6 to 5, the true odds, which is a little more.
- $110 That counts the odds chips into the payout. The odds chips were yours before the roll and go back to you beside the payout; the payout is only what the dealer adds.
The odds bet adds no price and adds swing.
Level 2 · The most behind the line
The point is 6
- P$10 on the pass line
The point is 6, and your pass line bet is $10. What is the most you may put behind the line as odds?
- $30, 3 times the pass line bet That is the most behind a point of 4 or 10. A point of 6 allows 5 times the pass line bet.
- $40, 4 times the pass line bet That is the most behind a point of 5 or 9. A point of 6 allows 5 times the pass line bet.
- $100, ten times the pass line bet Ten times the pass line bet is more than these rules allow behind any point: the most they allow anywhere is 5 times, on a 6 or an 8.
- $50, 5 times the pass line bet On a 6 the odds bet may be up to 5 times the pass line bet, and 5 times $10 is $50.
How much odds may go behind the line depends on the point: 3 times the pass line bet on a 4 or 10, 4 times on a 5 or 9, 5 times on a 6 or 8.
Level 3 · The whole round
The point is 6 · the dice show 3 and 3
- P$10 on the pass line
- O$50 odds, behind the pass line bet
The point is 6, with the most odds behind the line, and the dice come down showing 3 and 3. What happens to the pass line bet and the odds bet?
- Both are paid: $10 on the line and $60 behind it The point came before a 7, so the pass line bet is paid even money and the odds bet is paid 6 to 5, the true odds of the point.
- Both are paid even money: $10 and $50 Even money is what the pass line bet is paid. The odds bet behind it is paid at the true odds of the point, 6 to 5.
- Only the pass line bet is paid; the odds bet comes back as it went down The odds bet is decided by the same roll as the pass line bet it sits behind, and the point coming first pays the odds bet as well.
- Both are lost Both bets are lost only to a 7 before the point. This roll is the point.
The odds bet adds no price and adds swing.
Every bet in the practice run is worked out the same way: the true odds of the point from the ways two dice can fall, the most odds from the rules on this page, and what one roll does to both bets from the same dice engine.
How the practice run works
Where the bets come from. The true odds of each point come from the ways two dice can fall; the most odds come from the rules for casinos in British Columbia; and what one roll does to the pass line bet and the odds bet comes from the dice engine that settles both bets. None of the answers is written down anywhere by hand. The wrong answers are worked out from the same numbers, and each wrong answer is one named mistake: the odds bet paid even money, the odds bet paid like a place bet, the odds chips counted into the payout, the multiple of another point, or a roll read as if the come-out roll were still to come.
One strip, and no rounds. Every square on the strip is one bet of this lesson, and all of the squares are there from the start. Your first answer fills the square it belongs to; when the squares of one level are full, the next level begins by itself, with no button in between. Practising a bet you got wrong turns its cross into “fixed in practice” and does not change the count, because only first answers count.
Your progress stays in this browser, and nothing is sent anywhere.
Check yourself
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Five quick ones. Pick an answer, then check it. No timer, no points: just whether it stuck.
Back to the question we opened with. The odds bet behind your $10 pass line bet costs nothing in price: the odds bet is paid 6 to 5 on a 6, the true odds. What the odds bet adds is the size of the evening’s swing, and that is the part to weigh against your limit.
Where to play craps, and further reading
19+ (18+ in AB, MB, QC) · Play responsibly · the helplines are further up this page
Further reading
- Rules of Play for Table Games — Craps · BCLCThe full B.C. rules: the line, odds and lay limits, place and buy, the centre of the table and the Fire Bet, with every pay table.
- Craps — leaflet · Loto-QuébecThe most popular bets and the whole payout chart on two pages, with the odds and lay limits.
- How to play craps · OLG PlaySmartThe crew, the puck, the come-out roll and the turn to shoot, in plain words.
- Craps · GameSense by AGLCHow the game runs in Alberta, the Full Double odds and the terms you hear at the table.
How it’s worked out
Rules, numbers, sources and hosts
Where this happens. Every table on this page is a live craps table in a room you can walk into. An electronic craps table or a screen at home is asked for different things, and what changes there belongs to other lessons.
Rules. The multiples and the payouts are the rules published by BCLC for casinos in British Columbia: a set of rules for a province, not a statement about any one room or any one table. The true odds are worked out from the ways two dice can fall and checked against the payout table in those rules; a mismatch stops the page from being built.
Numbers. Every payout is settled by the dice engine this site computes with, roll by roll. The price of the pass line bet, alone and with the most odds behind every point, is counted in exact fractions and checked against the house edge figures the rest of the site uses. The price of an hour is an example pass line bet, times 18 decisions an hour, times that price; the pace is the pace casino rating systems are set to, as a casino consultant describes them in Global Gaming Business, because no Canadian document we could read prints a pace for a craps table. The swing of an hour is the exact spread of the sum of those decisions, with no simulation and no bell curve.
What is deliberately absent. Who puts the odds chips down behind the line is not on this page: the rule book for casinos in British Columbia does not settle it, so this page does not say. Quebec’s and Alberta’s odds rules appear only in their own words and are not worked out here. No room page we could read prints a craps table minimum, so the pass line bet on this page is an example and nothing more. The come-out roll and the point are lesson 5.2; the pass line bet on its own is lesson 5.3; odds on come bets, and whether they work on a come-out roll, are lesson 5.5; laying odds behind a don’t pass bet is lesson 5.6; place bets are lesson 5.7; the field, Big 6 and Big 8 are lesson 5.8; the centre of the table and the Fire Bet are lesson 5.9; an evening planned at a known price is lesson 5.11; hot shooters and dice setting are lesson 5.12.
Sources. Every rule and every claim on this page carries a button with the sentence it rests on, the publisher who wrote that sentence and the date we read it.
Hosts. Leo and Maya are illustrated characters. Their backstories, a former dealer and a former floor supervisor, are written for the course: neither is a real person, and neither speaks for any casino. The rules and numbers on this page come from the sources it cites, not from their experience.
No promise. Craps is played against the house. The odds bet takes nothing in price, and the pass line bet under it still does; nothing on this page makes an hour cheaper, and nothing here says how an evening at the table would end.
What the odds bet is paid
PASS LINE AND COME ODDS WAGER
6 or 8 6 to 5
5 or 9 3 to 2
4 or 10 2 to 1
Section 1.0 Craps; 2.0 Fire Bet
The point or a 7
If the Player achieves their point their original wager is paid and the game returns to the Come Out roll and the dice are retained by the Player.
If the Player rolls a total 7 before achieving their point, their wager is lost and the dice are passed to the next Player.
Section 1.0 Craps; 2.0 Fire Bet
If 7 appears before a point is established, players betting with the shooter lose; if the point appears first, the players betting with the shooter win.
The shooter keeps rolling until they roll a 7, or “seven out” at which time, the dice move to the next player and the round begins again.
The round ends when a shooter “seven out” – when they roll a 7 after having established the point.
Seven Out: A rolled 7 after the point has been established.
GameSense by AGLC · Craps · read
Taking odds down
Players may remove their Odds wager at any time.
Section 1.0 Craps; 2.0 Fire Bet
The pass line bet stays
A Pass line and Come wager is a contract bet and cannot be removed, once a point has been established.
Section 1.0 Craps; 2.0 Fire Bet
Once a Pass line bet is made, the bet can’t be picked up until a win or lose decision is reached.
Contract Bet: A wager that may not be reduced or removed once the point is established until it wins or loses. The Pass Line and the Come bets are contract bets.
GameSense by AGLC · Craps · read
The most odds in British Columbia
The Player's Odds wager may be up to a maximum of 3 times the amount of the Pass Line and Come wager if the point is 4 or 10;
The Player's Odds wager may be up to a maximum of 4 times the amount of the Pass Line and Come wager if the point is 5 or 9.
The Player's Odds wager may be up to a maximum of 5 times the amount of the Pass Line and Come wager if the point is either 6 or 8.
Section 1.0 Craps; 2.0 Fire Bet
What the odds bet is paid
PASS LINE AND COME ODDS WAGER
6 or 8 6 to 5
5 or 9 3 to 2
4 or 10 2 to 1
Section 1.0 Craps; 2.0 Fire Bet
What a place bet on the 6 pays
PLACE BET WAGER
6 or 8 7 to 6
5 or 9 7 to 5
4 or 10 9 to 5
Section 1.0 Craps; 2.0 Fire Bet
The price of the pass line
Pass Line/Come Bet Actual or “True” Odds: 251 to 244 Odds Paid or Payout: 1 to 1 House Edge: 1.41%
OLG PlaySmart · Craps — odds · read
The point or a 7
If the Player achieves their point their original wager is paid and the game returns to the Come Out roll and the dice are retained by the Player.
If the Player rolls a total 7 before achieving their point, their wager is lost and the dice are passed to the next Player.
Section 1.0 Craps; 2.0 Fire Bet
If 7 appears before a point is established, players betting with the shooter lose; if the point appears first, the players betting with the shooter win.
The shooter keeps rolling until they roll a 7, or “seven out” at which time, the dice move to the next player and the round begins again.
The round ends when a shooter “seven out” – when they roll a 7 after having established the point.
Seven Out: A rolled 7 after the point has been established.
GameSense by AGLC · Craps · read
The odds bet needs a line bet
In order to take or give odds bet, you must have a corresponding Pass/Don’t Pass or Come/Don’t Come bet in place.
To make an odds bet, place it behind one of your previous line bets or tell the base dealer you’d like to add odds to one of your Come or Don’t Come bets.
Only after a point
These bets are some of the best in craps because they pay out at true odds, which means there is no house edge.
Odds Bets allow the Player to be paid at the true odds of that number being rolled. These wagers can be made only after a point has been made.
2 to 1 on 4 or 10, 3 to 2 on 5 or 9, 6 to 5 on 6 or 8
OLG PlaySmart · Craps — odds · read
Odds are paid at true odds
These bets are some of the best in craps because they pay out at true odds, which means there is no house edge.
Odds Bets allow the Player to be paid at the true odds of that number being rolled. These wagers can be made only after a point has been made.
2 to 1 on 4 or 10, 3 to 2 on 5 or 9, 6 to 5 on 6 or 8
OLG PlaySmart · Craps — odds · read
What a place bet on the 6 pays
PLACE BET WAGER
6 or 8 7 to 6
5 or 9 7 to 5
4 or 10 9 to 5
Section 1.0 Craps; 2.0 Fire Bet
The odds bet needs a line bet
In order to take or give odds bet, you must have a corresponding Pass/Don’t Pass or Come/Don’t Come bet in place.
To make an odds bet, place it behind one of your previous line bets or tell the base dealer you’d like to add odds to one of your Come or Don’t Come bets.
Odds on a come bet on the come-out roll
Players may request their Come bet Odds to be working on the Come out roll.
Section 1.0 Craps; 2.0 Fire Bet
Taking odds and laying odds
When placing odds bets on Pass Line and Come bets, you are said to be “taking odds”. Bets on Don’t Pass and Don’t Come are said to be “giving” or “laying odds”.
This is what is called taking odds on Pass or Come, or laying odds on Don’t Pass or Don’t Come.
The most odds in British Columbia
The Player's Odds wager may be up to a maximum of 3 times the amount of the Pass Line and Come wager if the point is 4 or 10;
The Player's Odds wager may be up to a maximum of 4 times the amount of the Pass Line and Come wager if the point is 5 or 9.
The Player's Odds wager may be up to a maximum of 5 times the amount of the Pass Line and Come wager if the point is either 6 or 8.
Section 1.0 Craps; 2.0 Fire Bet
The price of the pass line
Pass Line/Come Bet Actual or “True” Odds: 251 to 244 Odds Paid or Payout: 1 to 1 House Edge: 1.41%
OLG PlaySmart · Craps — odds · read
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