Every bet on a craps table has a fixed cost, and that cost is the craps house edge — the average percentage of every dollar wagered that the casino keeps over the long run. This chart lists every bet on the layout, ranked from the best value to the worst, so you can see exactly where a bet you're considering falls before you put chips down. For the full mechanics and payout structure behind any bet listed here, see Every Bet Explained.
What Craps House Edge Actually Means
House edge is an average, not a guarantee on any single roll. A 1.41% house edge on the pass line means that, across a very large number of pass line bets, the casino keeps about 1.4 cents of every dollar wagered. It says nothing about what happens on your next roll — you can win ten pass line bets in a row, or lose ten in a row, and the house edge hasn't changed either way. What it does tell you is how a bet is priced relative to every other bet on the table, which is the entire point of this chart: two bets can feel identical at the table and carry wildly different long-run costs.
Use this chart the way you'd use a price tag. It doesn't tell you what to bet, but it tells you exactly what you're paying for each option, so nothing on the layout surprises you after the fact.
Craps House Edge Chart: Every Bet Ranked Low to High
- Free odds — 0% house edge. Pays true odds behind a pass line, don't pass, come, or don't come bet. The only bet on the layout with no house cut at all.
- Don't pass / don't come — 1.36% house edge. Betting with the house's long-run edge instead of against it, in the specific sense that the math favors this side slightly over pass line.
- Pass line / come — 1.41% house edge. The foundation bet at the table, and the one most players start with.
- Place 6 or 8 — 1.52% house edge. Pays 7:6, close enough to the pass line that the difference barely matters.
- Lay 4 or 10 — 2.44% house edge. Betting a 7 comes before the 4 or 10, with a 5% commission on the win.
- Field bet, better payout — 2.78% house edge. Applies when the table pays 3:1 on a 12 rather than 2:1.
- Lay 5 or 9 — 3.23% house edge.
- Place 5 or 9 — 4.00% house edge. Pays 7:5.
- Lay 6 or 8 — 4.00% house edge. The most expensive lay bet on the layout.
- Buy bets, any number — 4.76% house edge. Assumes the standard convention where the 5% commission is charged whether the bet wins or loses.
- Field bet, lower payout — 5.56% house edge. Applies at tables that pay only 2:1 on both the 2 and the 12.
- Place 4 or 10 — 6.67% house edge. Pays 9:5.
- Small or Tall (ATS) — 7.76% house edge, at the standard 34:1 payout. Covering either half of the board (2 through 6, or 8 through 12) before a 7.
- All (ATS) — 7.99% house edge, at the standard 174:1 payout. Covering every number but 7 before a 7 shows up.
- Big 6 / Big 8 — 9.09% house edge. Same premise as placing the 6 or 8 directly, but paying even money instead of 7:6.
- Hard 6 or Hard 8 — 9.09% house edge. Pays 9:1.
- C&E — 11.11% house edge. Splits a bet between any craps and yo (11).
- Hi-Lo — 11.11% house edge. Splits a bet between the 2 and the 12.
- Yo (11) — 11.11% house edge. Pays 15:1.
- Hard 4 or Hard 10 — 11.11% house edge. Pays 7:1.
- Easy hop bets — 11.11% house edge. A one-roll bet on a specific non-matching combination, paying 15:1.
- Horn — 12.5% house edge. Splits a bet across 2, 3, 11, and 12 in one call.
- Whirl (World) — 13.33% house edge. A horn bet with a fifth unit added on any seven.
- Aces or Boxcars — 13.89% house edge. A one-roll bet on the 2 or the 12 alone, paying 30:1.
- Hard hop bets — 13.89% house edge. A one-roll bet on a specific matching pair, paying 30:1.
- Any seven — 16.67% house edge. Pays 4:1 on a bet that wins roughly one roll in six — one of the worst-priced bets in the entire casino.
- Fire bet — roughly 20% to 25% house edge, depending on the paytable. A side bet on how many unique points a shooter makes before sevening out, with a headline payout that can run as high as 999:1.
Which Bets to Make, Based Purely on the Math
Read straight down this chart and a clear pattern shows up: the bets that require the most patience carry the lowest cost, and the bets that resolve fast with big flashy payouts carry the highest. That's not a coincidence — it's the entire pricing structure of the game.
If you're building a session around the lowest possible cost, the math points to one combination: pass line backed with free odds, or the equivalent on the don't side. Nothing else on this chart comes close to that combined cost, and everything below place 6 and 8 on this list gets progressively more expensive for the entertainment it adds. Place 6 and 8 are a reasonable next step if you want a number working immediately without waiting on a point. Everything from the field bet on down is priced for excitement, not value — that's not a judgment, just what the numbers say. Bet them if you enjoy them, but know exactly what they cost while you do.
If you want to see how any of these bets play out over a real session instead of just reading the numbers, the simulator lets you run them with no money on the line.