Craps: How to Play, Every Bet's Real Odds and House Edge
Craps is the casino dice game in which players bet on rolls of two dice. Its basic bet, the Pass Line, has a house edge of 1.41% — one of the lowest in the casino — and the “odds” bet behind it has no house edge at all.
Most of the other bets on the layout, especially the one-roll bets in the middle, cost between 9% and 17%. In the UAE, gambling is legal only through operators licensed by the GCGRA; the only licensed online casino, Play971, had no live craps table in its lobby when we checked it on 22 October 2026.
This guide explains how a round of craps works, how often each total comes up, every main bet with its real house edge — all calculated by us from the 36 ways two dice can land — what 200 bets look like with different strategies, how online and live craps work, and where craps stands in the UAE. Last reviewed: 22 October 2026.
Best Online Casinos for Craps in Dubai in 2026
These are the casinos we rate. Whether each one offers craps — as an RNG game or a live table — and which odds it allows varies by operator, so check the lobby and the game’s rules before you play. Play971, at the top, is the only one licensed by the UAE’s GCGRA; the others are licensed abroad. See the house edge of every craps bet before you choose.
Craps at a Glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Equipment | Two six-sided dice, a craps table layout |
| Who rolls | One player, the “shooter”; everyone bets on the same rolls |
| Most common total | 7 — six of the 36 combinations (1 in 6) |
| Best basic bet | Pass Line (1.41%) or Don’t Pass (1.36%) |
| Bet with no house edge | Odds, placed behind a Pass or Come bet |
| Most expensive bets | Any 7 (16.67%), 2 or 12 (13.89%) |
| Online versions | RNG craps and live-dealer craps from studios such as Evolution |
| Licensed online in the UAE | Play971, the only GCGRA-licensed online casino |
How Craps Works: The Come-Out Roll and the Point
Craps looks complicated because the table is covered in bets, but the game itself follows one simple cycle, built around the Pass Line:
01
The come-out roll. A new round starts with the shooter’s first roll. A 7 or 11 is a “natural”: Pass Line bets win at once.
02
Craps. A 2, 3 or 12 on the come-out is “craps”: Pass Line bets lose at once.
03
The point. Any other total — 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 — becomes the point. The dealer marks it with a puck turned to “ON”.
04
Rolling for the point. The shooter keeps rolling. If the point comes up again before a 7, Pass Line bets win.
05
Seven out. If a 7 comes first, Pass Line bets lose, the round ends and the dice pass to the next shooter.
On the come-out, a natural comes up 22.2% of the time, craps 11.1% and a point 66.7%. Every other bet on the table is a variation on the same question: which totals will appear, and in what order.
The Two Dice: How Often Each Total Comes Up
All of craps comes from this table. Two dice can land in 36 equally likely ways, and the totals in the middle have many more ways to appear than those at the edges:
| Total | Combinations | Ways | Probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1-1 | 1 | 2.8% (1 in 36) |
| 3 | 1-2, 2-1 | 2 | 5.6% (1 in 18) |
| 4 | 1-3, 2-2, 3-1 | 3 | 8.3% (1 in 12) |
| 5 | 1-4, 2-3, 3-2, 4-1 | 4 | 11.1% (1 in 9) |
| 6 | 1-5, 2-4, 3-3, 4-2, 5-1 | 5 | 13.9% |
| 7 | 1-6, 2-5, 3-4, 4-3, 5-2, 6-1 | 6 | 16.7% (1 in 6) |
| 8 | 2-6, 3-5, 4-4, 5-3, 6-2 | 5 | 13.9% |
| 9 | 3-6, 4-5, 5-4, 6-3 | 4 | 11.1% (1 in 9) |
| 10 | 4-6, 5-5, 6-4 | 3 | 8.3% (1 in 12) |
| 11 | 5-6, 6-5 | 2 | 5.6% (1 in 18) |
| 12 | 6-6 | 1 | 2.8% (1 in 36) |
Seven is the key number: it is the most likely total on every roll, which is why it wins Pass bets on the come-out and loses them afterwards.
Pass Line and Don’t Pass
The Pass Line bets that the shooter will win the round: a natural on the come-out, or the point before a 7. It pays even money and wins 244 times in every 495 rounds — 49.29% — giving a house edge of 1.41%. On AED 100 bet over many rounds, you can expect to lose about AED 1.41.
Don’t Pass is the opposite bet: it wins on a 2 or 3 on the come-out, and when a 7 comes before the point. A 12 on the come-out is a tie — “bar 12” — and that rule is what gives the house its edge. The result is a house edge of 1.36% per bet, very slightly lower than the Pass Line. Some players avoid it because it bets against the shooter, and the rest of the table, but the maths favours it a little.
The chance of making each point before a 7 decides everything that follows:
| Point | Ways to roll it | Made before a 7 | True odds against |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 or 10 | 3 | 33.3% | 2 to 1 |
| 5 or 9 | 4 | 40.0% | 3 to 2 |
| 6 or 8 | 5 | 45.5% | 6 to 5 |
The 6 and 8 are the easiest points to make and the 4 and 10 the hardest — which is why the odds bet pays more on the harder numbers.
The Odds Bet: The Only Bet With No House Edge
Once a point is set, a Pass Line player can add an odds bet behind the line. It wins if the point is made and is paid at the true odds in the table above — 2 to 1 on a 4 or 10, 3 to 2 on a 5 or 9, 6 to 5 on a 6 or 8 — so the house has no edge on it. It is the only fair bet in the casino.
The odds bet does not change your expected loss in dirhams, which still comes only from the Pass Line part. But it spreads that loss over more money wagered, so the combined edge falls the more odds the table allows:
| Odds allowed | Combined house edge on Pass + odds |
|---|---|
| No odds | 1.41% |
| 1× odds | 0.85% |
| 2× odds | 0.61% |
| 3-4-5× odds (common in the US) | 0.37% |
| 10× odds | 0.18% |
Our calculation. “3-4-5×” means three times the line bet on a 4 or 10, four times on a 5 or 9 and five times on a 6 or 8.
The catch is that taking odds increases the money on the table, and so the size of your swings. Take only as much odds as your budget can absorb.
Come and Don’t Come
Come and Don’t Come are the same bets as Pass and Don’t Pass, made after a point has been set. The next roll acts as that bet’s own come-out: a 7 or 11 wins a Come bet, a 2, 3 or 12 loses it, and any other number becomes its own point, which must repeat before a 7. They carry the same house edges — 1.41% and 1.36% — and you can add odds to them in the same way. Players use them to have several numbers working at once while keeping the low edge.
A Come bet that lands on 6 or 8 is made before a 7 45.5% of the time — exactly the same chance as making that point on the Pass Line.
Place, Buy and Lay Bets
Place bets let you bet directly on a number being rolled before a 7, without waiting for it to become a point. They are paid below true odds, and the gap is the house edge:
| Bet | Pays | Wins | House edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place 6 or 8 | 7 to 6 | 45.5% | 1.52% |
| Place 5 or 9 | 7 to 5 | 40.0% | 4.00% |
| Place 4 or 10 | 9 to 5 | 33.3% | 6.67% |
| Buy 4 or 10 (5% commission on wins) | 2 to 1, less commission | 33.3% | 1.67% |
Place 6 and 8 are the only Place bets close to the Pass Line. On a 4 or 10, “buying” the number — paying a 5% commission for true odds — is far cheaper than placing it, at tables where the commission is charged only when the bet wins. Lay bets are the reverse of buy bets: you bet that a 7 comes before the number, paid at true odds less a commission.
The Field, Big 6 and 8, and Proposition Bets
The bets that look most tempting on the layout are usually the worst. The one-roll bets in the centre of the table — “propositions” — are settled on the next roll and pay big numbers, but far below the true odds:
| Bet | Wins on | Pays | House edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Field (12 pays 3 to 1) | 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12 on the next roll | 1 to 1; 2 and 12 more | 2.78% |
| Field (2 and 12 pay 2 to 1) | Same | 1 to 1; 2 and 12 pay 2 to 1 | 5.56% |
| Big 6 / Big 8 | 6 (or 8) before a 7 | 1 to 1 | 9.09% |
| Hard 6 / Hard 8 | 3-3 (or 4-4) before a 7 or an “easy” 6 (8) | 9 to 1 | 9.09% |
| Hard 4 / Hard 10 | 2-2 (or 5-5) before a 7 or an easy 4 (10) | 7 to 1 | 11.11% |
| Any Craps | 2, 3 or 12 on the next roll | 7 to 1 | 11.11% |
| Yo (11) or Ace-Deuce (3) | That total on the next roll | 15 to 1 | 11.11% |
| Snake Eyes (2) or Boxcars (12) | That total on the next roll | 30 to 1 | 13.89% |
| Any 7 | 7 on the next roll | 4 to 1 | 16.67% |
Our calculation, using the payouts most common in casinos. Some tables pay “for 1” rather than “to 1” on propositions — 30 for 1 is only 29 to 1 — which makes the edge higher still.
Big 6 and Big 8 are a clear example of why the layout is worth understanding: they win exactly like Place 6 and Place 8, but pay even money instead of 7 to 6, so their edge is six times higher.
What 200 Bets Look Like
A house edge is an average; what you feel at the table is the spread around it. We simulated 100,000 sessions of 200 bets of AED 10 each — AED 2,000 in total wagered — on three different bets:
| Bet | Sessions ending in profit | Median result | Average result | Worst 5% of sessions | Best 5% of sessions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pass Line | 39% | −AED 20 | −AED 29 | −AED 260 or worse | +AED 200 or better |
| Field (2 and 12 pay 2 to 1) | 22% | −AED 110 | −AED 111 | −AED 360 or worse | +AED 140 or better |
| Any 7 | 9% | −AED 350 | −AED 333 | −AED 750 or worse | +AED 100 or better |
Our Monte Carlo simulation, 22 October 2026.
With the same AED 2,000 wagered, the Pass Line player ends in profit about four sessions in ten and loses AED 29 on average; the Any 7 player wins fewer than one session in ten and loses more than ten times as much. Choosing the bet matters far more than any betting system.
Craps Strategy: What Works and What Doesn’t
What works is simple: stick to Pass, Don’t Pass, Come and Don’t Come, add odds within your budget, and if you want more action, use Place 6 and 8. Avoid the centre of the table.
What doesn’t work:
- Betting systems. Doubling after a loss (Martingale), the “Iron Cross” (Field plus Place 5, 6 and 8) and similar patterns change how money moves, not the house edge on each bet. The Iron Cross wins on every number except 7, but still loses money on average.
- Dice control. Claims that a shooter can control the dice at a physical table are not supported by evidence, and online they are impossible: RNG games use software, and live dealers roll for you.
- Hot and cold tables. Each roll is independent. A shooter who has made five points is no more likely to make a sixth.
- “Due” numbers. A 7 that has not appeared for twenty rolls is still a 1 in 6 chance on the next one.
Online Craps: RNG and Live Dealer
Craps was among the last classic table games to reach online live casinos, because it needs a physical shooter. Evolution, the largest live casino studio, announced what it called the world’s first online live craps game in late 2020, filmed in a speakeasy-style studio, with an “Easy Mode” and a tutorial for newcomers, alongside an RNG version, First Person Craps. In live online craps the dealer rolls the dice — often with a mechanical shaker — and you place bets on a digital layout during a betting window.
| Item | RNG craps | Live craps |
|---|---|---|
| Dice | Random number generator | Physical dice rolled in a studio |
| Speed | As fast as you click | Set by the betting window |
| Minimum stake | Usually lower | Usually higher |
| House edge on main bets | Same maths | Same maths |
| Things to check | Paytable for Field and propositions | Odds allowed and commission rules |
The speed of RNG craps is its main risk: the house edge applies per bet, so more bets per hour mean faster losses. Our live casino guide explains how studio games work.
Craps Compared With Other Casino Games
| Game and bet | House edge |
|---|---|
| Blackjack, good rules and basic strategy | About 0.4%–0.6% |
| Baccarat, Banker bet | 1.06% |
| Craps, Don’t Pass / Pass Line | 1.36% / 1.41% |
| European roulette | 2.70% |
| Sic Bo, Big or Small | 2.78% |
| Craps, Any 7 | 16.67% |
Craps on Play971
Play971, run by Coin Technology Projects LLC, is the only online casino licensed by the UAE’s federal regulator, the GCGRA. When it launched in December 2025, Gulf News listed craps among the games it would offer. When we opened its live lobby from the UAE on 22 October 2026, its 30 live tables were roulette, blackjack, baccarat and Dragon Tiger, with no live craps table. Play is in dirhams, you must be 21 or over and physically in the UAE, and accounts are verified with an Emirates ID. Our Play971 guide explains how to register and pay.
If Play971 adds craps, the house edges in this guide apply unchanged: they come from the rules and the dice, not from the casino.
Craps at Wynn Al Marjan Island
Wynn Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah holds the UAE’s only licence for a land-based casino and is expected to open in September 2027. Wynn has not yet published its table mix. Craps is a fixture in its Las Vegas casinos, but whether it will be dealt in Ras Al Khaimah, and with what odds and limits, is still to be announced. On 4 October 2024 the GCGRA issued the resort’s operating company, listed on its register as Island 3 AMI FZ-LLC, the UAE’s first commercial gaming facility licence. Wynn has not yet published the size of the gaming floor, its entry rules or the minimum age, and a 2023 report that UAE citizens would not be admitted has not been confirmed in any published regulation.
Is Craps Legal in the UAE?
Only when it is offered by a GCGRA-licensed operator. Outside that system, the Crimes and Penalties Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 31 of 2021) applies: Article 461 punishes whoever gambles with up to two years in prison or a fine of up to AED 50,000, and Article 462 punishes whoever organises gambling with up to ten years and a fine of at least AED 100,000. Offshore online casinos that offer craps are not licensed in the UAE, whatever licence they hold abroad, and a private dice game played for money is gambling like any other. Our UAE gambling laws guide explains the full framework.
Craps Glossary
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Shooter | The player rolling the dice |
| Come-out roll | The first roll of a round |
| Natural | A 7 or 11 on the come-out |
| Craps | A 2, 3 or 12 on the come-out |
| Point | The 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 set on the come-out |
| Seven out | A 7 rolled after the point; the round ends |
| Puck | The marker showing the point, “ON” or “OFF” |
| Hard way | A 4, 6, 8 or 10 rolled as a pair (2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5) |
| Yo | An 11, called “yo” to avoid confusion with 7 |
| Snake eyes / Boxcars | A 2 (1-1) / a 12 (6-6) |
| Right and wrong bettor | A player betting with the shooter (Pass) or against (Don’t Pass) |
Play Responsibly
Craps is fast and social, and the noise of a hot table makes it easy to bet more than you meant to. Decide your budget in dirhams before you start, stick to the low-edge bets, and stop when the budget is gone. Never chase losses or borrow to play. Confidential help is available from BeGambleAware.
FAQ
- What is the best bet in craps?
The odds bet behind Pass or Come, which has no house edge. Of the bets you can make on their own, Don’t Pass (1.36%) and the Pass Line (1.41%) are best.
- What is the probability of winning at craps?
A Pass Line bet wins 49.29% of the time. Over a session, the result depends on which bets you make: in our simulation of 200 Pass Line bets, 39% of sessions ended in profit.
- What does "craps" mean?
It is the name of the game and of a 2, 3 or 12 on the come-out roll, which loses Pass Line bets.
- What are place bets in craps?
Bets that a chosen number — 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 — is rolled before a 7. Place 6 and 8 have the lowest edge, 1.52%.
- Why is 7 so important in craps?
It is the most likely total, with six of the 36 combinations. It wins Pass bets on the come-out and loses them once a point is set.
- What is a good craps strategy for beginners?
Bet the Pass Line, add odds when a point is set if your budget allows, and avoid the proposition bets in the centre of the table.
- Can you play craps online?
Yes, as RNG games and as live-dealer tables such as Evolution’s. In the UAE, only GCGRA-licensed operators can legally offer it.
- Does Play971 have craps?
Craps was listed among its games at launch, but on 22 October 2026 its live lobby had no craps table.
- Is craps legal in Dubai?
Only through a GCGRA-licensed operator. Offshore sites and private games for money are unlicensed gambling under UAE law.
- Is craps better than roulette?
On the right bets, yes: the Pass Line costs 1.41% against 2.70% for European roulette. On the proposition bets, craps is much worse.