The layout is designed to look like a plumbing diagram so you'll ask the dealer what to do, and the dealer is trained to suggest the bets that pay him. Ignore all of it. The pass line with full odds is the second-best bet in the casino, and the middle of the table is a graveyard of 10%+ propositions with fun names. Learn which is which and craps is the best party in the house at a fair price.
A shooter throws two dice. The first throw is the come-out roll: 7 or 11 wins the pass line, 2, 3 or 12 loses it, and anything else (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) becomes the point. Now the shooter keeps rolling until either the point repeats (pass wins) or a 7 shows (pass loses, dice move to the next shooter). That's the entire core game. Everything else on the table is a side bet on some subset of those rolls.
Once a point is set, you can back your pass bet with free odds — an extra wager, usually up to 3x, 4x or 5x your line bet depending on the point, paid at the true odds of the point hitting before a seven. Free odds have zero house edge. It's the only bet in the casino with no built-in vig, offered because you can only make it after paying the 1.41% entry fee on the pass line. Bet the table minimum on the line and the maximum in odds, and your blended edge collapses to under half a percent.
| Bet | House edge |
|---|---|
| Free odds (behind pass / don't pass / come) | 0.00% |
| Pass line + 3-4-5x odds (combined) | 0.37% |
| Pass line + 2x odds (combined) | 0.61% |
| Pass line + 1x odds (combined) | 0.85% |
| Don't pass / don't come | 1.36% |
| Pass line / come (alone) | 1.41% |
| Place 6 or 8 | 1.52% |
| Buy 4 or 10 (commission only on win) | 1.67% |
| Lay 4 or 10 | 2.44% |
| Field (2x on 2, 3x on 12) | 2.78% |
| Place 5 or 9 | 4.00% |
| Field (2x on both 2 and 12) | 5.56% |
| Place 4 or 10 | 6.67% |
| Hard 6 / Hard 8 | 9.09% |
| Big 6 / Big 8 | 9.09% |
| Hard 4 / Hard 10 | 11.11% |
| Any craps · 3 or 11 (15:1) · C&E | 11.11% |
| Horn | 12.50% |
| 2 or 12 (30:1) | 13.89% |
| Any seven | 16.67% |
Pick a bet, a unit and a number of bets. The simulator plays 1,000 sessions from the bet's actual outcome table — not a normal approximation — and shows the spread, the drawdowns, and how long it takes before the house edge stops hiding behind luck. Pass line with full odds, then any seven, at the same unit and the same number of bets. That's the whole craps lesson in two runs.
The claim. By gripping the dice a particular way and throwing them with a soft, low, spinning arc, a practised shooter can reduce the frequency of sevens slightly below 1-in-6. If true, it would flip the pass line and the 6/8 place bets to a player edge. Courses and books are sold on it, and some card counters swear by particular shooters.
The evidence. Thin. Casinos require the dice to hit the back wall, which is pyramid-textured specifically to randomise the bounce; no controlled study has shown a statistically significant, repeatable effect in a real casino. The people most confident in dice control are the people selling the seminar. Treat it the way you'd treat a trading course that guarantees returns.
Legality and acceptance. Legal — there's no rule against throwing carefully, as long as both dice reach the wall. Casinos are relaxed about it because they don't think it works; a shooter who consistently fails to hit the back wall will be warned and then made to throw properly. The honest edge in craps is bet selection, not the throw.