Well, I’m glad to see you back in another teaching session to learn from the Guru. This lesson is all about craps odds; an often misunderstood, and frankly pretty confusing concept at first. Just stick close to George, and I’ll guide you along the way to craps wisdom. You’re learning from the best, so open your ears and your mind, and get ready to take it all in.
OK? Hang on tight. The road to knowledge of craps odds is a bit bumpy at first. You’ve got to get past all the rough stuff before you can expect to become a master like me. Craps odds is all about the numbers. Once you become familiar with the concept, you’re well on your way. On my page about craps strategy, you learned all about how to increase your chances of success by taking odds with your bets. Here, I’m going to tell you about the theory behind dice combinations, and how they can work for or against you in the wonderful world of craps.
As with all dice games, craps is a risky game. I’m here to show you the reasons behind why you have more or less of a chance of rolling certain numbers. Since you're rolling a pair of dice, your chance of rolling a certain number depends on the combinations that can add up to that number. For instance, 2 can only be rolled with two 1’s, but you can roll a 3 in two different ways; a 1 and a 3 or a 3 and a 1. Now this may sound like the same thing, but you have two dice, remember? Either die can turn up a 1 or a 3. That means you have twice as much chance of rolling a 3 as you do of rolling a 2. Now here’s where the power of the number 7 comes into play. Since 7 has the greatest number of combinations (six), it is the number that’s likely to come up most often. That’s why it’s the magic number in craps and in many other dice games. It’s also probably why lots of folks consider it a lucky number. There you have just a bit of information about craps odds. I bet you’re starting to see the light, right? Ah, but there’s more. I know you saw that coming. There are, in total, 36 different combinations that can be rolled with two dice. Below, you’ll see a chart I’ve provided for your viewing pleasure that shows the whole story about how the dice tumble.
Now I know what you’re thinking (that’s why they call me the Guru!). It’s pretty confusing, but by looking at the possible combinations for a while, you can begin to see the true odds for rolling a given number. Once you’ve learned a bit about craps odds, you can get a feel for whether a certain number might be rolled at a certain time. This helps you when you’re wondering whether the point number will get rolled before a 7. Take a look at the chart below, and then we’ll move on when you’re ready.
This chart can sometimes be misunderstood, because the casino doesn’t actually pay true odds unless you’re taking odds on top of your line bet. I talked about taking odds on my craps strategy page. If you haven’t been there yet, take a quick look, then come back for the rest of the scoop on craps odds. Now here’s where I’ll tell you about the House Edge. In any casino, or betting game, the house always has the advantage. That’s why they make money at what they do. To give you an idea about how this works, I’ll use a coin flip as an example.
When you flip a coin, there’s a 50/50 chance hitting heads, and a 50/50 chance of hitting tails. So if you bet on that, and you were being paid true odds that would be called “even money”. Now, casinos wouldn’t make a cent if that’s what they did, so they shave a bit off the top by paying less that true odds. So, on a bet that had true odds of 1:1, you’d think that if you bet $1 and win, you’d win $1. It’s another story with casinos. Since profit is at the top of the list, they always pay less than true odds; and it’s different from one casino to the next. The only time you get true odds is when you’re taking free odds on a Line bet, but that’s only because you already made a “negative expectation” bet, where the house has the edge. So as you can see, casinos have made craps odds into a science, and the math behind it is impossible to deny. So I think my work here is done. There’s still a lot to learn from George the Craps-Guru, and there is lots of information right here on my site. Please continue to wander around here, and gather knowledge from me, the master. When you’re finished, you’ll be ready for the most thrilling craps game you can find. Good luck!