How to Get Paid at True Odds in Craps

Craps is one of the most popular table games in the casinos. Players take turns rolling a pair of dice and try to predict the outcome of each toss. There are a great many ways to bet in craps, more than a hundred of them in fact. But for the novice craps player, just a few types of bets will do.

Each time a player's turn comes to roll the dice, it is known as a hand. The player in this capacity is called the shooter. If the shooter hits either the number 7 or the number 11, he or she wins along with all players who bet on the shooter to win. If it is a number 2, 3 or 12, then the shooter rolls "craps" and loses. In either case the hand ends immediately and the next player becomes the new shooter.

But if the shooter rolls 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, the hand hasn't ended yet. Instead that number total becomes the shooter's point. The shooter will now have to roll the dice again until he or she either comes up with the same total again or a 7. To roll the point again would be a win for the shooter; to roll a 7 would be a loss. The shooter must keep rolling until either number is hit. Only when the point or 7 is hit does the hand end.

For the novice player, it is best to avoid fancy bets. Don't listen to other players at the table. Just make a pass line bet. When you make a pass line bet and the shooter makes a point, make another bet along with your first wager. This is important. It is known as the free odds bet.

The casinos don't want you to know it but if you bet on the shooter to pass the line and you and they win, your first bet will be paid one to one, but your free odds bet will be paid at true odds. That means the house has a zero advantage on your second bet. You can make this free odds bet whether you are the shooter or just any other player. The important thing is the shooter must have a point to settle first.

The table below shows that the odds of each point are identical to the free odds payoff.

Free Odds Table

Point Odds Payoff 4 or 10 2 - 1 2 - 1 5 or 9 3 - 2 3 - 2 6 or 8 6 - 5 6 - 5

As a beginner, you should keep your craps game as uncomplicated as possible. Merely betting on the pass line and adding a free odds bet when the shooter throws a point can make you a successful novice player. You know this is a good bet when the casinos don't display it on their pay tables.