Standard American casino craps, two dice, with the "3-4-5x" odds table most modern Vegas casinos use as the default max — a couple of table-to-table differences are called out as they come up. This page starts with how a round actually works, then covers every bet on the layout.
How a round works
Every round of craps starts with a come-out roll — the first roll of a new round, before any point is established. If you've bet the pass line (the default bet almost every new player starts with) and the come-out roll is a 7 or 11, you win immediately at even money. Roll a 2, 3, or 12 instead — collectively called "craps" — and the pass line loses immediately. Any other result (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10) doesn't decide anything yet; it becomes the point, marked with a puck on the layout, and the shooter keeps rolling. From here, only two numbers matter: if the point comes up again before a 7, the pass line wins; if a 7 comes up first — a seven-out — the pass line loses and the round is over for everyone, not just the shooter. A new come-out roll then starts the next round.
That's the entire engine underneath the game. Nearly everything else on the layout — odds bets, place bets, the field, hardways, proposition bets — is just a different way to bet on how that same sequence of rolls is going to go.
Worked example
Come-out roll: 7. The pass line wins outright, paid 1:1 — a $10 profit. No point gets established; the next roll is a fresh come-out roll.
Come-out roll: 6. Not a 7, 11, 2, 3, or 12 — 6 becomes the point. The pass line bet stays on the table. With 3-4-5x odds, up to $50 in odds can now be added behind it (5x the $10 flat bet, since 6 is in the 5x tier).
Point phase: 6. The point repeated before a 7 showed. The $10 flat bet wins 1:1 (+$10), and the $50 odds bet wins at the true 6:5 odds for a point of 6 (+$60) — no house edge on that portion at all. Total profit: $70. The round is over; the next roll is a new come-out roll.
Right side vs. wrong side
Every line bet has a mirror image. The pass line bets with the shooter — win on 7/11, lose on craps, then root for the point. The don't pass bet bets against the shooter — the payouts flip (lose on 7/11, win on 2 or 3), with one adjustment: a 12 on the come-out is barred, meaning it's a push rather than a don't pass win (some casinos bar the 2 instead; this guide uses the more common 12-barred version). Once a point is up, don't pass simply wants a 7 before the point repeats — the exact opposite of pass. Betting don't pass is sometimes called playing the "wrong" side, purely by table tradition — there's nothing actually wrong with it; it's priced a hair better than the pass line.
The full layout
The default bet, placed before the come-out roll. Wins on 7/11, loses on 2/3/12, then wins if the point repeats before a 7 and loses on a seven-out. Pays 1:1.
The mirror of pass line. Loses on 7/11, wins on 2 or 3, pushes on 12 (barred — some tables bar the 2 instead). Once a point is set, wins if a 7 shows before the point repeats. Pays 1:1. The best-priced even-money bet on the table.
Works exactly like a pass line bet, except it can be made on any roll once a point is already established. The very next roll after you place it is that bet's own personal come-out: 7/11 wins instantly, 2/3/12 loses instantly, anything else becomes that bet's own point, and it moves to sit on that number until it repeats (win) or a 7 shows (loses — which also ends the shooter's whole round).
The mirror of come, same relationship don't pass has to pass line.
Added behind an existing pass or come bet once its point is established. Pays the true dice odds exactly, with no house cut at all — the single fairest bet in any casino. The catch: it can only ever be as large as the casino's posted max odds multiple allows, and it only pays out alongside a winning pass/come bet, never on its own.
The mirror bet, "laying odds" instead of taking them — betting the 7 shows before the point. Pays the inverse of the numbers above, still with zero house edge.
This varies table to table. Most modern Vegas casinos offer "3-4-5x" odds — 3 times your flat bet on a point of 4 or 10, 4 times on 5 or 9, 5 times on 6 or 8 (the uneven multiples exist specifically so the max odds payout is roughly similar across every point number). Some tables offer flat single or double odds instead, and some high-limit or promotional tables go much higher. Always worth checking the table's own placard.
A direct bet that a specific number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10) repeats before a 7 — no pass or come bet required first, and it can be made, increased, or taken down on any roll. Pays less than true odds, which is where the house edge on this bet comes from.
The same underlying bet as Place, except you pay the house a 5% commission on the bet amount in exchange for true odds instead of Place's reduced payout. Only worth it on 4 and 10 — true 2:1 minus the vig still beats Place's 9:5 there; buying 5, 6, 8, or 9 never beats simply placing them. Roughly a 4.76% edge on 4/10 when commission is charged on every bet (some casinos only charge it on a win, which lowers the edge further).
The opposite of Buy — betting a number will not repeat before a 7. Pays true odds against that number, minus the same 5% commission, charged on the (smaller) potential win rather than the amount risked. House edge is roughly 1.8%–2.4% on 6/8, 2.5%–3.0% on 5/9, and 2.4%–3.0% on 4/10, depending on exactly how the casino charges the commission.
A one-roll bet covering 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, and 12 — it wins or loses on the very next roll only, and needs to be re-placed for the roll after that. Loses on 5, 6, 7, or 8.
Some casinos pay only 2:1 on both 2 and 12 instead of 3:1 on 12, which raises the house edge from about 2.78% to about 5.56% — always check how a specific table's field pays before betting it, the same way you'd check a roulette table's single-zero or double-zero wheel.
A bet that a specific number comes up as an exact double — "the hard way" — before it comes up any other way that totals the same number, and before a 7. Hard 8, for example, is a bet on 4-4 specifically, and loses the moment a 7 shows or an 8 shows the "easy" way (5-3 or 6-2).
A one-roll bet that the next roll is 2, 3, or 12. Pays 7:1.
A one-roll bet that the next roll is any 7. Pays 4:1 — the single worst house edge of any standard bet on the layout, sitting right next to the fairest bet on the table (odds).
Combination and single-number one-roll side bets also live in the center of the table — a Horn bet splits your wager across 2, 3, 11, and 12 at once, and a hop bet is a one-roll wager on one specific dice combination. Both carry house edges in a similar range to Any Craps and Any Seven. Exact payout splits aren't broken out in detail on this page yet — see the callout below.