Walk up to a craps table for the first time and the sheer density of numbers, labels, and betting zones can feel genuinely overwhelming. Yet underneath all that visual noise sits a relatively logical set of payout ratios — ones that, once understood, transform a chaotic-looking game into something you can engage with strategically. The payouts chart is the key to that transformation. It tells you not just what you win, but why certain bets deserve your bankroll and others are best left alone. Whether you are playing at a land-based casino or exploring a live dealer table at somewhere like Unlimit casino, the same fundamental payout structure applies, and understanding it will directly influence every decision you make on the felt.
The craps payouts chart almost always starts at the same place: the Pass Line bet, because it is the most common wager in the game and the one around which the entire ritual of a craps round is built.
A Pass Line bet pays 1:1, meaning you win exactly what you wager. It sounds modest, but the house edge on this bet sits at just 1.41%, making it one of the better wagers available in any casino game. You place your chip on the Pass Line before the come-out roll. If the shooter rolls a 7 or 11, you win immediately. If a 2, 3, or 12 appears, you lose. Any other number — 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 — becomes the "point," and the game continues until that number or a 7 is rolled again.
The Don't Pass Line is essentially the mirror image. It also pays 1:1, but you are betting against the shooter. A come-out roll of 2 or 3 wins for you; a 7 or 11 loses. A 12 is a push — you neither win nor lose, and this single rule is what gives the casino its thin edge of 1.36% on Don't Pass bets. Once a point is established, you need a 7 to appear before the point to collect.
Behind the Pass Line — literally, in the space behind your original chip — you can place what is known as an Odds bet. This is genuinely unusual in casino gambling: the Odds bet carries a house edge of exactly zero. The casino pays it at true mathematical odds, which is why it does not appear labelled on most table layouts.
The payouts for Odds bets depend entirely on which number is the point:
Most casinos allow you to bet between 2x and 100x your original Pass Line wager in odds, though the specific limit varies by property. The higher the multiple of odds you take, the closer your overall combined bet slides toward a 0% house edge. If you see a craps table advertising "10x odds," that means you can place ten times your Pass Line wager behind the line — an extremely player-friendly rule.
Don't Pass odds work the same way but in reverse. You lay odds against the point, and the payouts flip: you risk more to win less, because the 7 is statistically more likely to appear than any specific point number.
Come and Don't Come bets are structurally identical to Pass and Don't Pass bets, but they are placed after a point has already been established. A Come bet placed mid-round treats the very next roll as its own personal come-out roll. The same 7/11 win and 2/3/12 lose rules apply, and if a point number appears, your Come bet moves to that number's box on the layout. Both Come and Don't Come bets pay 1:1 and can similarly be backed with Odds bets, producing the same zero-edge mathematics.
Rather than waiting for a Come bet to travel to a number naturally, you can simply "place" a bet directly on a specific number — 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 — and it activates immediately. The payouts, however, are slightly worse than true odds, which is how the casino earns its margin:
Placing the 6 or 8 is widely regarded as an acceptable side play given the low house edge. Placing the 4 or 10, on the other hand, carries a cost that most experienced players avoid. An important etiquette note: Place bets on 6 and 8 should be made in multiples of $6 to receive the full 7:6 payout cleanly; betting $5 on a Place 6 will result in a rounded-down payout.
Buy bets allow you to pay a 5% commission to receive true odds payouts on the 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 instead of the reduced Place bet payouts. For the 4 and 10, the true odds payout is 2:1, and paying 5% commission still results in a better deal than the 9:5 Place payout. For 6 and 8, the improvement is minimal and often not worth it, since the Place 6/8 house edge is already low.
Lay bets are the Don't Pass equivalent of Buy bets: you pay commission to bet that a 7 will appear before a specific number. Lay bets pay at true odds but require you to risk more than you stand to win, because a 7 is the most frequently rolled number in the game.
The centre of the craps layout is home to the proposition bets — a collection of one-roll wagers with dramatic-sounding payouts that attract casual players but drain bankrolls efficiently. These bets are decided on the very next roll of the dice.
| Bet | Wins On | Payout | House Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Any 7 | 7 | 4:1 | 16.67% |
| Any Craps | 2, 3, or 12 | 7:1 | 11.11% |
| Aces (Snake Eyes) | 2 | 30:1 | 13.89% |
| Boxcars | 12 | 30:1 | 13.89% |
| Yo (Eleven) | 11 | 15:1 | 11.11% |
| Three | 3 | 15:1 | 11.11% |
The payouts sound exciting, but every number in the house edge column tells the real story. The Any 7 bet, for instance, loses you $16.67 for every $100 wagered over time. Compare that to the Pass Line's $1.41 and the discrepancy becomes impossible to ignore. Proposition bets exist to generate casino revenue and, in live settings, to generate excitement at the table. Treat them as entertainment expenses rather than strategy.
The Field is a large, prominently displayed zone that wins on 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12 and loses on 5, 6, 7, or 8. It pays 1:1 on most numbers, with 2 paying 2:1 and 12 paying either 2:1 or 3:1 depending on the casino's rules. Even with that enhanced payout on the 12, the house edge typically sits around 5.56%. It is a fast bet for players who prefer action on most outcomes, but the maths does not make it a strong long-term choice.
A Hardway bet wins only if the dice show matching numbers — two 2s, two 3s, two 4s, or two 5s — to total 4, 6, 8, or 10 respectively. The bet loses if the number comes up "easy" (non-matching dice) or if a 7 rolls. Payouts are:
Hard 6 and Hard 8 carry a house edge of around 9.09%, while Hard 4 and Hard 10 edge toward 11.11%. These are multi-roll bets that stay active until they resolve, so they can generate sustained excitement during a long roll — but the mathematical cost is real.
The craps payouts chart is ultimately a map of value. When you look at it holistically, a clear hierarchy emerges. At the top sit Pass/Don't Pass with Odds — low edges, true odds returns, the mathematical sweet spot of the game. Just below them are the Come/Don't Come bets with Odds, which function identically. Place bets on 6 and 8 are a reasonable third tier. Everything else — Field, Hardways, Props — belongs in a category you approach with your eyes open about the cost.
Experienced craps players rarely memorise abstract percentages in the heat of the moment. Instead, they internalise the chart's logic so they can make quick, consistent decisions: back the Pass Line, take the maximum available odds, and lean on Place 6/8 for additional coverage. The rest of the layout is entertainment, and there is nothing wrong with treating it as such — provided you have allocated a separate budget for it.
Not every craps table pays identically. Some casinos quietly reduce the Snake Eyes or Boxcars payout from 30:1 to 29:1, which sounds minor but meaningfully increases the house edge. Others adjust the Field bet's 12 payout. Online and live dealer tables can vary more widely than land-based venues, so it is always worth consulting the game's information panel or paytable before placing chips. A quick check takes less than a minute and can save you from betting into rules that are quietly less generous than standard.
The craps payouts chart is not a document of arbitrary numbers — it is a compressed expression of the game's entire probability architecture. Once you can read it fluently, you will never look at a craps layout the same way again. Every box on that felt corresponds to a mathematical reality, and knowing which realities work in your favour is what separates confident play from expensive confusion.