Academy CrapsPlay Smarter with This Handy Craps Cheat Sheet

Play Smarter with This Handy Craps Cheat Sheet

Written byPeter Nairn

All Levels

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5 min

Updated on Apr 9, 2025

Play Smarter with This Handy Craps Cheat Sheet

Craps is a great game, and today we’re going to give you a comprehensive craps payout cheat sheet which will explain many of the details about the game.

Sometimes this game may seem a bit overwhelming, with so much going on and so many things to know.

But what’s really happening is craps isn’t one big, very complicated game – oh no, that’s not it.

What’s really happening is craps is about 10 extremely simple games but they’re all going on at the same time.

Which is why it seems so complicated.

Once you’ve read through this article and the Cheat Sheet, you will know all the details of the odds that each bet pays, the House Edge of those bets, and some insider information about the best bets you should bet, and those sucker bets that you shouldn’t bet – and perhaps more importantly, why you shouldn’t bet them.

Get the Craps Cheat Sheet by clicking the button below:

Download the Craps Cheat Sheet

How to use the craps cheat sheet

The Craps Cheat Sheet is like a mini encyclopedia for craps. All the bets, all the odds, all the House Advantages, all the good bets and the bad bets are listed, with a description of how to play them, why you shouldn’t play some of them, and the knowledge I have gathered over the last thirty-five years or so as to which are the best bets to play, and why.

The first section lists all the bets, the true odds of them hitting, how much they pay out and the House Edge for each. The best bets are listed on the left, going through to the worst bets on the right.

list of bets

The House Edge (also called the House Advantage) of every bet is listed so you can make good decisions about what you’re going to bet.

The way the dealers are taught to calculate the payouts for the Horn bet and the World bet are listed, which may be of interest to you – even though I recommend that you never bet either or them because the House Advantage is too strong.

There is a complete ‘dice combinations’ page, again with their House Edges, how many ways there are to make the various numbers and the odds that those different combinations produce.

dice combinations

Each bet is then broken down with how it wins and how it loses, plus my comments about the bet and why you should or shouldn’t bet it.

Then there is a section of the 5 best bets on the craps table, and the five worst bets, too.

Finally, there are my Top Ten Tips for how to play craps.

Can I use it in a casino?

Short answer? Yes, of course you can.

The only potential problem is using it on a craps table is going to be a bit inconvenient for you, and for the players on either side of you.

There’s not much room at a crap game to have the Cheat Sheet available to be able to read it. There is only the chip rail that is convenient, it’s a small area for each player, and it will contain your chips.

Author Tip

My suggestion is to decide on the bets you would like to make, and practice making them on a free online craps simulator.

Try the various strategies you’ve seen and decide how you would like to play.

For example, you could Buy the 4 and 10 and add a Super-Paroli system to maximize your winning potential, or play the Three Point Molly system. Learn exactly how to play the system you like and when you get to a live game, carry the Cheat Sheet with you as a support, but not to refer to it while you’re playing.

Most craps players only know their own game. If you learn it by playing online for free, you will be like every other craps player – even though it looks like they know the game inside out, they only really know their own game, the one they like to play, but don’t bother with learning anything else about the game.

Why is that?

Because, for example, they’ll never need to know how to make a Lay bet if they never bet the Don’t.

Expert's Advice

Bet the Pass Line and take the odds.

Make one or two Come bets and take the odds.

It may be that you don’t have the bankroll to take the maximum odds the casino allows, and that’s okay. Take some odds.

If you would rather make Place or Buy bets and not play the Come, then you should:

Buy the 4 and 10
Place 6 and 8

And always remember, to overcome the House Advantage you must increase your bet as you’re winning.

And please don’t forget to take some winnings periodically.I’ll never forget the young Navy guy who played on his own on our crap table in Nassau. He flat bet $5 on the Pass Line and made 13 passes in a row.

He was very happy to walk away with his $65 winnings.

We didn’t have the heart to tell him how much he could have (and should have) won...

Conclusion

Craps is a fun, exciting game. It isn’t as difficult to learn as you think, and with this Cheat Sheet, you’re already halfway there.

Spend a little time playing online for free, try out a few different bets and systems and see what you like, and then go and find a live game.

Wait until the dice are in the middle in front of the Boxman, who is sitting between the two dealers with a lot of chips in front of him, then just drop your money on the layout and say ‘Change’. The dealer will then give you chips for your cash, and you’re on your way.

And good luck.

Craps Cheat Sheet FAQs

There’s a lot going on in craps. What should I not do?

Keep your hands back as soon as the dice go out to the shooter. If you need to make a bet at that time, tell the dealer what you want and if you have the chips in front of you, she will book the bet.

Don’t throw your chips or money into the dealer’s work area. Place it in the Come and tell the dealer exactly what you want.

Don’t ask, ‘Can I bet the 10?’ because that isn’t a positive bet. Instead, say, $10 on the 10’. And the dealer will say, ‘Bet, $10 on the 10’ and you have a bet.

What does 3, 4, 5 odds mean in craps?

It is what multiple of the flat bet you can take as odds on the Pass Line or the Come, and the point is the 4 or 10, or the 5 or 9, or the 6 or 8 respectively. For example, if you have a $10 bet on the Pass Line, you could take $30 odds on the 4 and 10, $40 on the 5 and 9, and $50 on the 6 and 8. On the Pass Line or Come, it means that if the player bets the maximum odds on a 3, 4, 5 odds system, it pays 7x the flat bet total, whatever the point is.

You can also lay enough to win that much against those numbers. So you can lay enough to win 3x the Don’t Pass flat bet vs the 4 and 10, 4x vs the 5 and 9, and 5x vs the 6 and 8.

With a $10 bet on the Don’t Pass or Don’t Come, you can lay enough to win $30 against the 4 and 10, to win $40 against the 5 and 9, and to win $50 against the 6 and 8. And every one of those bets is $60, which is 6x the flat bet. Convenient that, isn’t it?

Why are there mirrors on a crap table?

The mirrors are there so that the Boxman can see both dice if one or both of them are hidden behind chips on the layout. He can also see both sides of the dice when the Stickman brings them to the middle to make sure they have the correct numbers on both sides.

I know it’s hard to believe, but some unscrupulous players do try to change our dice for theirs. And yes, I know it’s dishonest.

It also allows the Boxman to see bets and payoffs that may be obscured by other bets, chips or the dealers’ hands on the table.

Some people claim they can control or ‘influence’ the dice on a crap table. Can they?

Ah yes, the dice influencers and controllers. And for only $150, they will sell you their secrets. It’s absolute nonsense. It may be able to be done in a controlled environment in their den at home, with ideal conditions and they only have to throw the dice a couple of feet.

And there is no one telling them they must get a real roll.

But in a live casino, with experienced dealers who know exactly what you’re trying to do, good luck with that.

The smallest professional crap table is 12 feet long. So, the minimum distance one of these guys has to throw the dice is 6 feet.

And after one or two short rolls that don’t hit the end, the Stickman will be all over them, telling them to hit the end of the table.

If they don’t, the Boxman will tell them that they must hit the end, or we will take the dice away from them. And I’ve only had to do it once, but it happens.

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Peter Nairn

Casino Operations Specialist

About Peter Nairn

Over 3 decades of experience in casino operations management, with a focus on Table Games and Slots;
Senior executive positions in both Native American and traditional casino markets for companies like Harrah’s New Orleans and Minnesota-based Grand Casinos;
Hands-on experience as trainer and dealer of multiple casino games including: Blackjack, Roulette, Craps, and more;
Profound knowledge of Title 31 regulations, State compacts, and Federal MICS.