Assumes standard Las Vegas rules and payouts: Pass/Come 1:1 (bar 12 on Don't bets), Place 4/10 pays 9:5, Place 5/9 pays 7:5, Place 6/8 pays 7:6, Field pays double on 2 and triple on 12 (all else 1:1), Any 7 pays 4:1, Any Craps pays 7:1, Hardways pay 7:1 (4/10) or 9:1 (6/8), 2 and 12 pay 30:1, 3 and 11 pay 15:1, and Big 6/8 pay even money. Free Odds always pay true odds (0% house edge).
One of your amounts is invalid -- enter 0 or a positive number for every bet.
How much does it really cost to play craps, bet by bet?
Every craps bet has its own fixed house edge, computed exactly from the 36 equally likely two-dice outcomes -- from Free Odds at a mathematically true 0% up to Any 7 at 16.67%. The house edge you actually face, though, depends on which bets you combine and how much you put on each: adding a 0%-edge Free Odds bet behind a Pass Line stake doesn't change the Pass Line's own 1.41% edge, but it dilutes the percentage of your total action that's actually working against you, because that extra money loses nothing on its own. With 3-4-5x odds, a Pass Line bet's blended edge falls from 1.41% to 0.37% -- the same total expected loss in dollars, spread over far more money wagered.
Steps to find your blended house edge
- Enter an amount next to every bet you want to include -- leave the rest at 0.
- For Pass Line or Come, optionally pick an odds multiplier (1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x, or the common 3-4-5x scheme) -- the tool automatically weights it by the roughly 2/3 chance a point actually gets established.
- Read each row's own house edge and the exact expected loss on the amount you entered.
- Check the combined panel below the table: total wagered, total expected loss, and the blended house edge across every bet you've selected.
- Raise the Pass Line odds multiplier and watch the blended edge fall -- that's the mathematical reason to always take maximum odds.
How the blended edge is calculated
Blended house edge = (sum of each bet's house edge x its amount) / (sum of each bet's effective amount at risk) -- where Free Odds behind Pass/Come contributes $0 to the numerator (0% edge) but is weighted at only about 2/3 of its face amount in the denominator, since it's only ever put into action when a point gets established.
- House edge = the casino's expected profit per dollar wagered on a bet, computed exactly from the 36 dice outcomes and the bet's payout
- Expected loss = house edge x amount wagered on that bet, resolved over many rolls
- Effective amount at risk (Free Odds) = odds amount x P(point established) = odds amount x 2/3, since the odds bet is only placed after a point is set
- Blended house edge = total expected loss across all selected bets / total effective amount at risk across all selected bets
Quick house-edge answers
What's the house edge on the Pass Line?
1.41%, computed exactly from the 36 two-dice outcomes -- win immediately on 7/11, lose immediately on 2/3/12, otherwise win if the point repeats before a 7.
What's the best craps bet?
Pass Line or Don't Pass backed with maximum Free Odds. Odds pay true odds (0% house edge), so the more of your action is on odds, the lower your blended house edge.
What's the house edge on Any 7?
16.67% (1/6) -- it pays 4:1 but only wins on 6 of the 36 dice combinations that make 7, the highest edge of the bets in this tool.
What's the house edge on Place 6 or Place 8?
1.52% (1/66), the cheapest bet on the table besides the line bets and Free Odds -- it pays 7:6 and wins whenever a 6 (or 8) is rolled before a 7.
What's the blended house edge with 3-4-5x odds on the Pass Line?
0.37% -- the Pass Line's own 1.41% edge never changes, but averaging in the 3x/4x/5x odds bet (which has a true 0% edge) across the amount actually put into action lowers the blended percentage.
Is Free Odds really a 0% house edge?
Yes -- it's the one bet on a craps table that pays exactly true mathematical odds (2:1 on 4/10, 3:2 on 5/9, 6:5 on 6/8), so the casino has no built-in edge on it at all.
What's the house edge on Field?
2.78% under the common paytable (2 pays double, 12 pays triple); 5.56% under the less common paytable where both 2 and 12 pay only double.
Does adding more bets always lower my blended edge?
No -- only adding a 0%-edge bet (Free Odds) lowers it. Adding any other bet (Place, Field, Any 7, etc.) alongside your Pass Line raises your total expected loss and pulls the blended edge toward that bet's own, higher, percentage.
Standard house edge by bet
| Bet | Standard payout | House edge |
|---|
| Pass Line / Come | 1:1 (bar 12 on the Don't side) | 1.41% |
| Don't Pass / Don't Come | 1:1 (bar 12) | 1.36% |
| Free Odds (behind Pass/Come) | True odds -- 2:1, 3:2, or 6:5 by point | 0% |
| Pass/Come + 3-4-5x odds (blended) | combined | 0.37% |
| Place 4 or 10 | 9:5 | 6.67% |
| Place 5 or 9 | 7:5 | 4.00% |
| Place 6 or 8 | 7:6 | 1.52% |
| Field (2 pays double, 12 pays triple) | 1:1, 2:1 on 2, 3:1 on 12 | 2.78% |
| Big 6 / Big 8 | 1:1 | 9.09% |
| Any 7 | 4:1 | 16.67% |
| Any Craps (2, 3, 12) | 7:1 | 11.11% |
| Hard 4 / Hard 10 | 7:1 | 11.11% |
| Hard 6 / Hard 8 | 9:1 | 9.09% |
| 2 or 12 (Aces / Boxcars) | 30:1 | 13.89% |
| 3 or 11 (Ace-Deuce / Yo) | 15:1 | 11.11% |
Frequently asked questions
What's the house edge on the Pass Line?
1.41% (7/495), computed exactly from the 36 two-dice outcomes: you win immediately on a come-out 7 or 11, lose immediately on 2, 3, or 12, and otherwise win if your point repeats before a 7.
Why does adding Free Odds lower my blended house edge if Free Odds itself has 0% house edge?
Because the blended figure divides your total expected loss by your total money in action, and Free Odds adds money in action (the denominator) without adding any expected loss (the numerator). More non-losing money in the mix pulls the overall percentage down, even though the Pass Line's own 1.41% never changes.
What's the best bet at the craps table?
Pass Line or Don't Pass, backed with the maximum odds your table allows. Odds pay true odds with a mathematically exact 0% house edge, so stacking as much of your money there as possible produces the lowest blended edge available.
What's the worst bet at the craps table?
Any 7 at 16.67%, the highest house edge of the standard bets in this tool. The Field bet under the less common double-double paytable (both 2 and 12 pay only 2:1) is close behind at 5.56%; the more common paytable (2 pays double, 12 pays triple) is 2.78%.
Does combining bets change my odds of winning any individual bet?
No. Each bet's own probability of winning is fixed by the dice and unaffected by what else is on the table. Combining bets only changes the blended cost of your total action -- your total expected loss is always exactly the sum of each bet's own expected loss.
This tool assumes standard Las Vegas rules and payouts listed in the reference table above; some casinos use different Field or odds paytables (for example, a Field that pays only 2:1 on both 2 and 12, or odds capped below 3-4-5x), which change the exact percentages shown. It's built for probability and house-edge education, not gambling advice, and "expected loss" is a long-run mathematical average -- any single session's actual result will vary, often widely, from it.
Sources: Wizard of Odds, Craps, Wizard of Odds, Craps Appendix 1 (house edge table)