Elements of the Best Craps Strategy

Lively and fast-paced, craps is one of the most popular games in any casino. Besides offering a lot of fun, craps also has among the best odds in a gambling establishment, whether land-based or online. Some beginners might find the game intimidating at first. But with practice, they can experiment with different betting methods and develop the best craps strategy to increase their chances of winning craps games.

What follows are a few of the techniques that successful players have found helpful at the craps table.

Keeping Away from Betting Systems

It's important to remember that the casino house has a mathematical edge in many games, including craps. In the majority of cases, there are rarely any betting systems that can effectively eradicate the house edge.

The Martingale system is one of the most popular betting systems. Although it's usually used by roulette players, it has made appearances at the craps table. In this system, the player doubles the size of his or her bet with every loss. On the next bet, the objective is to recoup the previous bet's loss.

However, the risk of running a losing streak is considerable. And if the player loses several times in a row, they are apt to reach the table limits. Not to mention, their bankroll could take a significant hit.

Choosing the Bets with the Lowest House Edge

When learning how to play craps—online or offline—one of the good techniques to learn is to go for bets that have the lowest house edge. The house edge projects how much players will lose on average for every bet over a period of time.

So, for instance, if 1.41% is the house edge, a player can expect to lose around $1.41 for every bet of $100.

Part of a good craps strategy is to remember that at the craps table, simple bets offer better odds. On the other hand, complicated bets can result in worse odds.

Taking the Maximum Odds Bet

Along with the double-up bet, the odds bet has no house edge. To place an odd bet, a player must have previously placed a pass or don't pass bet while the shooter should have set a point. Wagering whether the shooter will make the point before rolling a 7 constitutes the odd bet.

Casinos typically have a 3-4-5x odds craps table, enabling players to bet 3 to 5 times the amount of their initial bet on the odds bet. Also, taking the maximum odds bet greatly increases a player's chances of winning on each round.

Having a Sufficient Bankroll

In order to lower the house edge significantly, craps players need enough of a bankroll to place their bets. If a player goes to the craps table with a bankroll of $100, for instance, and the minimum bet is $10, he or she cannot afford the maximum odds bet for 10X odds.

So, a good craps strategy would be to play the game with a sufficient bankroll that would allow a player to place the max odds bet a number of times.

Savvy craps players also tend to establish win goals and stop loss limits. As an example, a player sets a stop loss limit of $100 on a bankroll of $300. When their loss reaches $100 or more, they stop playing. Similarly, if they set a win goal of $200, for instance, they leave the table once they have won this amount.