A come bet works exactly like a pass line bet — same payouts, same house edge — but you place it after a point is already established. It's the primary tool for getting multiple numbers working without using place bets. This page explains how come bets work mechanically, how they compare to place bets in terms of edge and control, and when each approach makes more sense for your session.
How a Come Bet Works
After a point is established, place your chips in the large COME box in the center of the layout. The next roll of the dice acts as your come bet's personal come-out roll:
- 7 or 11 — your come bet wins even money immediately.
- 2, 3, or 12 — your come bet loses immediately (craps).
- Any other number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) — that number becomes your come bet's point. The dealer moves your chips to that number's box in the back row of the layout. Now you need that number to roll again before a 7.
Once your come bet is established on a number, two outcomes matter:
- Your come number rolls — you win even money and your bet comes down.
- A 7 rolls — you lose the come bet (along with any other come bets and your pass line bet).
The house edge on a come bet is 1.41% — identical to the pass line. The math is exactly the same bet, just placed at a different point in the hand.
Taking Odds on Come Bets
Just like the pass line, you can take free odds on a come bet once it has traveled to a number. Tell the dealer "odds on the come" and place your chips on the layout — the dealer will position them correctly on top of your come bet, offset slightly to distinguish them from the flat bet.
The payouts are the same as pass line odds:
| Come number | Odds payout |
|---|---|
| 4 or 10 | 2:1 |
| 5 or 9 | 3:2 |
| 6 or 8 | 6:5 |
The odds portion carries zero house edge — true mathematical odds, no casino markup. A come bet on the 6 with full odds behind it is one of the lowest-edge bets available on any number at the craps table. Take the maximum odds the casino allows. You can remove odds from a come bet at any time, but the flat come bet itself cannot be taken down once it's established on a number.
Come Bets vs. Place Bets: The Key Differences
Come bets and place bets both put you on numbers, but they work differently in ways that matter depending on how you want to play.
House edge. Come bets carry a 1.41% edge — lower than every place bet except the 6 and 8. With full odds attached, the blended edge drops well below 1%. Place bets:
- Place 6 or 8: 1.52%
- Place 5 or 9: 4.0%
- Place 4 or 10: 6.67%
On a pure math basis, come bets win. The gap widens further when you add odds.
Control over which number you land on. Place bets are direct — you choose the number and the bet is working immediately. Come bets go where the next roll takes them. If you already have a come bet on the 6 and the next roll is another 6, the new come bet wins immediately rather than establishing on 6 again. You may end up on numbers you didn't want, or doubling up on numbers you already have covered.
Speed of action. A place bet is working on the very next roll after you put it down. A come bet needs at least two rolls to settle on a number — one to establish the point, then subsequent rolls until that number or a 7 appears. If you want instant coverage, place bets are faster.
Come-out vulnerability. A come bet sitting in the COME box (not yet on a number) loses if craps rolls on the next throw. Place bets are typically set to "off" by default during a come-out roll — they don't lose if a 7 rolls while the shooter is establishing a new point.
Turning bets on and off. Place bets can be taken down or turned off at any time, for any reason — before a come-out, before a particular roll, whenever you want. A come bet's flat portion cannot be removed once it's on a number. You can pull the odds, but the underlying bet stays until it wins or a 7 ends it.
7 during another shooter's come-out. If you have come bets on numbers and a new shooter sevens out during their come-out roll, your come bets lose. Place bets are normally off during the come-out and would not lose in that situation.
When Come Bets Make More Sense
Come bets are the better choice when the math is your primary concern. If you want the lowest possible house edge across multiple numbers, come bets plus full odds get you there. No combination of place bets reaches the same effective edge.
They also make sense when you're playing a disciplined, long-session strategy and plan to take maximum odds on every number you land on. The odds attachment is what separates come bets from place bets in practical terms — it transforms a 1.41% edge into something considerably lower, number by number.
If you're comfortable with the slower setup, fine with not controlling which numbers you end up on, and willing to leave bets in place through come-out rolls, come bets are the mathematically correct approach for multi-number coverage.
When Place Bets Make More Sense
Place bets make more sense when you want immediate action on specific numbers. If you want to be on the 6 and 8 right now, place them — the 1.52% edge on each is modest enough that the convenience is often worth it, especially compared to waiting through extra rolls to land there with come bets.
They're also the right call when flexibility matters. Being able to pull a bet off the table entirely — before a come-out, before a roll you have a bad feeling about, or just because you want to reduce exposure — is a real practical advantage that come bets don't offer.
At casinos with low or no odds, the edge gap between come bets and place 6/8 narrows considerably. If a casino only offers 1X odds, the argument for come bets over place 6/8 weakens — the math difference is small enough that the control and flexibility of place bets may be worth more.
A Simple Come Bet Strategy
The straightforward way to incorporate come bets into a session:
- Make a pass line bet before the come-out roll.
- Once a point is established, make one or two come bets on consecutive rolls.
- Take maximum odds on your pass line bet and on each come bet as it settles on a number.
- Stop making new come bets once you have two or three numbers covered — pass line plus two come bets gives you three points working simultaneously.
This is the core of the 3-Point Molly — three points working at once, all at the lowest available edge. When a come bet wins and comes down, you make another come bet to replace it, keeping three numbers in action throughout the shooter's hand.
Keep your total number of come bets to two or three maximum. More than that, and a 7-out becomes very expensive very quickly.
The 7-Out Problem With Multiple Come Bets
Every come bet on the table loses when a 7 rolls. That's the fundamental risk of spreading across multiple numbers with come bets rather than place bets — when the seven shows up, everything goes at once.
With a pass line bet plus two come bets all working, a single 7-out wipes out three bets simultaneously. Add full odds to each of those bets and you have six bets (three flat, three odds) all resolving as losses on one roll. The dollar amount can be significant.
The math still works in your favor — come bets plus odds remain the best-edge bets available, and the probability of each number hitting before a 7 is unchanged. But the variance is higher than a simpler one-number approach. A bad 7-out early in a session, or two of them in a row, can end your bankroll before the long-run math has a chance to operate.
This is why bankroll management matters more as you add come bets. The standard guidance is to bring at least 20-30 times your total bet exposure to a session — if you're betting $10 pass line with $30 odds plus two $10 come bets with $30 odds each, your exposure per 7-out is around $120. A session bankroll of at least $300-400 gives you enough runway to absorb a rough start and let the math work over enough rolls.