Online Craps explained - Strategy Guide

The Craps table is one of the liveliest and best places you’ll find in any casino. The game itself is actually quite easy at any casinos, but there are so many different ways you can bet for real money, it can be a bit overwhelming at first. While most table games at casinos have a few betting options, Craps has around 20 or so. Despite this learning play curve, Craps is a very popular game at casinos. How to play it online for real money will be explained and is definitely worth the time and effort.

Craps players are loyal fans who love to play for the best reason at all casinos – this is one of the casino games with the lowest house edge you’ll find anywhere, and there’s even a bet with no house edge at all like it's for free. This quick free online Craps game tutorial will show you how to get started with the simplest real money bets on the layout, and we’ll introduce you to some of the more complex bets, so you can get a better grip on how Craps games work at our casino.

How to Bet the Pass Line

We begin with a bet that comes with a modest house edge of 1.41%. It also happens to be the most popular Craps game bet at casinos: the Pass Line. If this is your first time playing Craps games for real money online at Bovada Casino, the Pass Line bet is one of the best Craps bets you can make.

When you fire up a Craps table at Bovada Casino (both Classic Craps and “New” Craps games are available), you’ll see the layout, which contains areas for all the different bets you can make. At the start of the betting round for Craps games online for real money, put your online chips in the Pass Line area, which is near the bottom of your display, and then roll the dice.

There are three possible results with your first throw, which is known as the come-out roll:

7 or 11: Instant win (at even money)

2, 3 or 12: Instant loss

4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10: Point is established

The third result is the one that takes a little know-how. If you roll one of the numbers listed, the “Off/On” puck at the top of the display gets flipped to ON and placed above the corresponding number on the layout. Then you start rolling the dice again in Craps games even when you play online. The play objective is to roll that same Point number before you roll a 7. If you do, you get paid out at even money. If you “seven out” instead, your bet loses. Then the puck returns to the OFF position, and it’s time for the next betting round at the Craps online table game at our casino.

Let’s go through two examples of the Pass Line bet at Casinos:

When one puts $5 on the Pass Line and play “Roll.” The dice add up to 4, so 4 is the Point. You re-roll and get a 7. Your bet is removed from the online Craps table game at casinos, and the round ends.

You put $5 on the Pass Line and hit “Roll.” The dice add up to 10, so 10 is the Point. You begin rolling, landing a 6, a 12 – and then a 10. Your bet is returned and you win $5 at casinos.

How to Bet the Don’t Pass Line

Now that you know how to place the Pass Line bet, our free online Craps game guide moves to the next play you should learn: the Don’t Pass bet. If you look to the left-hand side of the layout on the table, you’ll see the Don’t Pass Bar. This is where you place your chips for this play at all casinos. The Don’t Pass bet has a house edge of 1.36% and is the near-mirror image of the Pass Line. Here are the three possible results for your come-out roll when you play Craps games at casinos:

7 or 11: Instant loss

2, 3: Instant win (at even money)

12: Push – all bets returned

4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10: Point is established

This time, once the Point is established and you start rolling again, the object is to roll a 7 before you roll the Point number in Craps at all casinos. If you do, you get paid at even real money; otherwise, the play loses. It’s a very easy bet to understand once you’re familiar with the Pass Line bet – just keep in mind that your bet will be a push if you throw a 12 (known as Boxcars) on your come-out roll in Craps at casinos.

Come and Don’t Come Bets

Next in our comprehensive free online Craps guide, we have the simple Come and Don’t Come bets, each with its own area on the layout. These bets can be made once a Point has been established; if you’re betting the Pass Line, you can place a Come bet, and if you’re betting the Don’t Pass Line, you can place the Don’t Come bet.

These bets work exactly the same way as the ones we’ve already covered and can be considered a mini round within the round you play Craps at our casino online. When you place a Come bet, the next throw will be treated the same as the come-out roll for a Pass Line bet; if you roll a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, instead of the Off/On puck moving, the chips that you placed on the Come area will move to the number in question, then you’ll keep rolling. It’s the same procedure for the Don’t Come bet.

Odds Bets

These are very important bets to remember when you play Craps online for real money at Bovada Casino – they’re the ones with zero house edge. After a point has been established during a Pass Line bet, you have the option of taking odds when you play at our online casino, which bolster your original bet, up to 3X. Then you’ll get paid out the following amounts if you roll your Point before sevening out:

4, 10: 2/1

5, 9: 3/2

6, 8: 6/5

If you establish a Point during a Don’t Pass bet in all casinos, you can lay odds by increasing your bet, again up to 3X. And once again, the payouts are mirror images of the ones for taking odds when you play Craps at our online casino:

4, 10: 1/2

5, 9: 2/3

6, 8: 5/6

To place either of these bets at all casinos, just put the desired chips on either Pass Odds or Don’t Pass Odds once the Point has been established. You can take these bets off the layout or put them back on at any time before the betting round ends when you play Craps online at our casino.

Place 6 and Place 8

Now we get into some of the best exotic bets when you play Craps. At any time after the come-out roll, you can make a Place Bet on any of those six Point numbers (also known as Box numbers): 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10. Just put your online chips in the desired box, and every time that number gets rolled before a 7 comes up, you’ll win. You can take your bet away at any time, or you can leave it in place until the bet is resolved in the online Craps table game.

For the lowest, and best, house edge, Place 6 and Place 8 are your best bets. Each comes with a house edge of 1.52%; they also have the lowest payouts of the Place bets at 7/6. As the payout goes up, the house edge increases, to 4% for Place 5 and Place 9 (paying out at 7/5), and 6.67% for Place 4 and Place 10 (paying out at 9/5). Once you’ve got the basic bets (Pass Line, Don’t Pass and so on) in online Craps game at our casino mastered, spread your wings by trying out Place 6 and Place 8 first.

Other Bets in Craps at Casinos

There are so many other bets you can make you play online Craps table game at our casino, it’s impossible to cover them all here, but keep in mind that each comes with its own casino house edge. For example, you can bet on the two rarest outcomes in Craps at casinos: 2 (known as Snake Eyes), and 12 (the aforementioned Boxcars). These “Single” bets will pay out at 30/1 if they come up on the next roll of the dice. That’s the largest payout possible when you play in online Craps games, but these bets also have a casino house edge of 13.89%, so try sprinkling them in here and there, while making the standard Pass Line and Don’t Pass bets most often at this online game at our online casino.

To find out more about all the different bets you can make in online Craps games at our casino, consult for free the online casino game description to the left of the display, and tap or click on the hamburger icon at the top-left corner to read the rules for free online. And don’t forget to check out our other free Craps games articles here at Bovada Casino for more information. See you at our online casino tables.