How to Bet Like a Pro at Craps: Advanced Wagers and Payouts

Craps – Part 2 of 4: How to Bet Like a Pro at Craps: Advanced Wagers and Payouts​

Now that we’ve covered the basics of craps and how to get you rolling the dice, it’s time to dive deeper. In this installment, we’ll explore advanced craps betting options, how they work, and how you can win them.

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🔍 What We’ll Cover​

• Field Bets
• Free Odds Bets
• Big 6 / Big 8 Bets
• Place Bets
• Hardways Bets
• Any 7 & Any 11 Bets
• Any Craps Bets
• Horn Bets

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💥 Field Bets​

The Field Bet can be played at any time—either on the Come Out Roll or after the Point has been established. You’re betting that the shooter will roll 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12 on the very next roll.

📍 Bets are placed in the large rectangle marked “Field.”

How It Pays

• Wins
  • 2 or 12 → Paid 2 to 1
  • 3, 4, 9, 10, or 11 → Paid even money
• Loses
  • 5, 6, 7, or 8

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💥 Free Odds Bets​

Arguably the best bet on the craps table, Free odds Bets are only allowed if you’ve already placed one of the following:

• Pass Line Bet
• Don’t Pass Bet
• Come Bet
• Don’t Come Bet

Most casinos allow odds of 3× to 5× your original bet, though limits vary—always check with the pit boss.

📍 To place the bet, hand your chips to the dealer and say:
“Odds on the [number].”
The dealer will place the bet behind your original wager.

How It Works
You’re betting that the Point number your chips are on will be rolled before a 7.

Payouts

• Point of 6 or 8 → Paid 6 to 5
• Point of 5 or 9 → Paid 3 to 2
• Point of 4 or 10 → Paid 2 to 1

Loses

• A 7 is rolled before the Point number

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💥 Big 6 / Big 8 Bets​

The Big 6 or Big 8 is a standalone bet that works similarly to a Free Odds bet, except you can place it at any time.

You’re betting that a 6 or 8 will be rolled before a 7.

How It Pays

• Wins → 6 or 8 rolled before a 7 (paid even money)
• Loses → 7 rolled before your chosen number

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💥 Place Bets​

Place Bets allow you to wager on any box number—4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10—to be rolled before a 7.

📍 Bets are placed along the top row of numbers on the table.

Payouts

• 6 or 8 → Paid 7 to 6
• 5 or 9 → Paid 7 to 5
• 4 or 10 → Paid 9 to 6

Loses

• A 7 is rolled before your number

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💥 Hardways Bets​

Looking for higher payouts? Hardways Bets, located in the center of the table, let you bet on rolling doubles before a 7 or the “easy” version of that number.

You can bet on:

• Hard 4 (2-2)
• Hard 6 (3-3)
• Hard 8 (4-4)
• Hard 10 (5-5)

Payouts

• Hard 6 or Hard 8 → Paid 10 to 1
• Hard 4 or Hard 10 → Paid 8 to 1

Loses

• A 7 is rolled, or the number is rolled the “easy” way

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💥 Any 7 & Any 11 Bets​

These one-roll bets are located in the middle of the table.

How It Pays

• Any 7 → Paid 4 to 1
• Any 11 → Paid 16 to 1

Loses

• The next roll is not the number you bet on

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💥 Any Craps Bets​

Similar to the Any 7 bet, this wager is on the next roll only.

You can bet on:

• Any Craps (2, 3, or 12)
• A specific number (2, 3, or 12)

Payouts

• Any Craps → Paid 8 to 1
• 3 → Paid 16 to 1
• 2 or 12 → Paid 31 to 1

Loses

• Any other number is rolled

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💥 Horn Bets​

Horn Bets aren’t available at every casino, but they’re a fun, high-volatility option.

A Horn Bet splits your wager evenly across 2, 3, 11, and 12.
For example, a $10 Horn Bet places $2.50 on each number.
Payouts

• 3 or 11 → Paid 15 to 1 (on one-quarter of the bet)
• 2 or 12 → Paid 30 to 1 (on one-quarter of the bet)

Loses

• Any other number is rolled

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🎯 Summary​

With so many betting options at the craps table, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But understanding **what each bet does—and when to use it—**helps eliminate confusion and makes the game far more enjoyable.

Next time, we’ll break down the math behind the bets, showing you where the best odds really are—and which bets are true sucker bets.

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💬 How Do You Play Craps?​

What are your favorite bets outside of the Pass Line and Come bets?
Jump into the conversation and let’s learn the most entertaining game in the casino together!

Hi Chris and thanks for yet another interesting topic.

Are there really professional craps players? Anyway i would probably go for the free odds bets (after i put up a pass line bet). Those sound the most profitable of the ones that are listed.

Looking forward for ur next article about the math behind the bets👍

Thank you Chris, i always wanted to learn how to play craps and this is a great introduction and like Sunz said - im looking forward to the next article.

Hi Chris,

This is as confusing as interesting , but I think the math behind all those bets will make things a lot clearer. Can't wait for the next installment.

My whole experience with craps consists of a few times when I kept betting on 6 and 8 (A friend recommendation). I didn't even know they're called big 6 and big 8 bets 😔😟.

What's confusing me most are the payouts of the hardways bets. Isn't he probability of getting 2 threes the same as getting 2 fives or 2 deuces?
Why do hard 6 or hard 8 pay more than hard 4 or hard 10?

Thank you again for the time and effort you're putting in to get us familiar with all those games.

Thanks for the info Chris, great post mate.

I assume that Horn bets wouldn't win you friends.

najisami said:

Hi Chris,

This is as confusing as interesting , but I think the math behind all those bets will make things a lot clearer. Can't wait for the next installment.

My whole experience with craps consists of a few times when I kept betting on 6 and 8 (A friend recommendation). I didn't even know they're called big 6 and big 8 bets 😔😟.

What's confusing me most are the payouts of the hardways bets. Isn't he probability of getting 2 threes the same as getting 2 fives or 2 deuces?
Why do hard 6 or hard 8 pay more than hard 4 or hard 10?

Thank you again for the time and effort you're putting in to get us familiar with all those games.

Click to expand...

The Hardway bets are lost if a seven is rolled OR the number the easy way.

Example: Hardway 5's is a value of 10. There are not as many combinations on the dice to roll 10 versus rolling 6 or 8 - so those are paid differently as a result. It hopefully will make more sense once the next series comes out next week on the math behind the odds.

CRStals said:

Hardway 5's is a value of 10. There are not as many combinations on the dice to roll 10 versus rolling 6 or 8

Click to expand...

With 2 dice, I look at it this way: There are only 2 deuces, 2 fours, 2 fives and 2 threes. So, maybe I'm wrong, but I still think hard 10, hard 8, hard 6 and hard 4 should all get paid equally. I might be overlooking something as usual. But next installment will certainly clarify things more.

najisami said:

With 2 dice, I look at it this way: There are only 2 deuces, 2 fours, 2 fives and 2 threes. So, maybe I'm wrong, but I still think hard 10, hard 8, hard 6 and hard 4 should all get paid equally. I might be overlooking something as usual. But next installment will certainly clarify things more.

Click to expand...

Remember that Hard 10 loses if you roll a six and a four - there are only 2 combos of that out of the 36 possible rolls you can have with two dice.

Hard 6 however loses if you roll a five and a one; or a four and a two. The additional combinations of rolls that you lose here makes it stastically more risky that you'll lose versus the hard 10, which is why it lays worse odds than the hardway that can lose with more possibilities.

loving the explanations of each bet, I usually stick to the pass line with an occasional big 6 or 8 bet
since there are 3 ways to hit each of those .
my question was going to be what are the odds of hitting something like a 2 or 12 with only one way to hit it,
and one roll but I will save it for your next post.
wondering did you research this for us or are you a craps pro )) like many of us you will be after this lol.
once I get this to memory I will be all over the board

jaymfc said:

loving the explanations of each bet, I usually stick to the pass line with an occasional big 6 or 8 bet
since there are 3 ways to hit each of those .
my question was going to be what are the odds of hitting something like a 2 or 12 with only one way to hit it,
and one roll but I will save it for your next post.
wondering did you research this for us or are you a craps pro )) like many of us you will be after this lol.
once I get this to memory I will be all over the board

Click to expand...

Thanks Jay, this has been a fun one to research and get right - I have played before for fun - never in a casino but the game has always fascinated me, but going through the odds has been eye-opening to say the least....

The next lesson on the odds behind the pass and come bets is out there - but at the end should make those who partake interested in the odds they get. The one after will focus on all of the other bets and the true sucker bets will show themselves!

Are hardway bets placed at the beginning or after the point is established ? If a roller craps out does the bet continue until a seven/easy way or a win ?

elflake said:

Are hardway bets placed at the beginning or after the point is established ? If a roller craps out does the bet continue until a seven/easy way or a win ?

Click to expand...

I'm thinking maybe @CRStals can answer this for you. I have no clue.

Thank you for the info! Very usefull for novice in craps like me!

I mostly bet on the pass line and bet on 6 or 8. It doesn't always give good results but the odds are acceptable to me.

I haven't played Craps yet. But I already know and understand enough to try it in the near future.

never had try it since pretty complicated

Now I'm learning a bit about the dynamics of the game. Maybe I even tried to play... 🤔😃

Craps definitely has a lot going on, and I can see why beginners might feel overwhelmed by all the different bets. 😅 I’d personally keep it simple at first and stick with the Pass Line and Come bets while learning how the table works.
The Hardways and Horn bets look more exciting because of the bigger payouts, but they also come with much higher house edges. I’m actually more interested in the next part about the math—knowing the true odds and house edge makes it much easier to decide which bets are worth considering and which ones are better left alone.
Definitely a fun game to learn though. 🎲👍

The house edge is always good to know.

Craps is a really fun game to play with friends,do yourself a favor and limit your drinking while playing it is real easy to get carried away splashing chips on everything ,when I go with friends we tend to team up and try to find the hot rollers and bet the crap out of them