Craps is a game that’s been practiced in land-based casinos across the United States and Europe for centuries. With the help of the latest technological advancements, the world’s most popular dice game is now available online, with many gambling sites now offering online craps within their table game collections.
Not only is the game now available to play at hundreds of online casinos, but it’s also free to play at most sites as well. This gives many players who are still getting accustomed to the rules and game dynamics a huge advantage compared to when the game was solely available to play for real money in brick-and-mortar casinos.
Thanks to the free version of this exciting online casino game, learning how to play craps is easy. However, learning how to play craps and winning at craps are two very different things. The former involves knowing the rules and betting markets. The latter involves playing to those rules while employing a well-thought-out strategy.
The Objective of Online Craps
Just like how craps is played in land-based casinos, the online game involves the player, known as the Shooter, who must throw a pair of dice onto the virtual table. Players must predict the combination that the two dice will reveal in order to win, or place a bet that covers multiple possibilities in order to win. Once the combination on the dice has been determined, winning bets are paid out before the next round of betting takes place.
Although the table may appear quite confusing for a player who has never played craps before, in reality, it only features the types of bets that can be placed. Don’t be afraid if you’re new to the game of craps! The free version of this game allows you to get used to all the different bets available without any risk to your bankroll, allowing you to go at your own pace and really get to grips with how the game works.
How to Play Free Craps Online
To start the game itself, a few preparations must be made for everything to go as smoothly and naturally as possible. Thus, you will have to:
- Create your online account (check out our casino reviews for the best online craps sites)
- Load up the game of craps and select “demo mode”
- Determine your wager amount, i.e. the virtual number of chips you want to place on the edge of the table
- Place your chip(s) on the type or types of bets you want to start the round with
- Press the “Roll” button to roll the dice and start the game
As you can see, to the left of the Roll button, there are 3 other buttons that perform completely different functions from the first one. These buttons are:
Repeat – repeat the bet from the last round
Clear All – remove all chips from the table
Remove – remove single chips from the table
Free Online Craps: Betting Options
Like many games of chance, craps has several betting rounds, the first roll being known to players as the “come-out roll”. Like the land-based version of the game, the online game is subject to the same rules.
The four most popular bets players will place on the come-out roll are the following:
Pass Line – means that if 7 or 11 is obtained, the bet will be considered a winner, giving the winner odds of 2 to 1. If craps is obtained, i.e., 2, 3, or 12, the bet is lost.
Don’t Pass Line – is the opposite of the Pass Line bet, in which case it will be won only if the shooter gets a score of 2 or 3. For 7 or 11, the bet is lost. If the score is 12, the bets are returned.
Come – resembles Pass Line and is a winning bet if the result is 7 or 11. If 2, 3, or 4 appear on the table, the bet is lost.
Don’t Come – is identical to the Don’t Pass Line bet, with the only notable difference being that you can’t bet on this option until the first point has been rolled.
Odds Bets (also known as prop bets) are part of the Come bets and allow the player to bet extra on the best odds available at the table. These bets are winners if the point number appears, and are lost if the shooter rolls a 7.
There are only 8 single-roll betting options in craps, which are the following:
Single Roll – 2, 3, 7, 11, or 12 pays out odds between 4:1 and 32:1
Craps – pays out 7:1 odds if 2, 3, or 12 appear
The Field – pays out 2:1 (even money) when a bet is placed on 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, and 12.
Bets that include multiple throws have 3 under bets that can be placed in a craps game:
Hard Way – a bet that requires a 4, 6, 8, or 10 to be rolled in a combination other than those given by doubles, such as 2: 2, 3 ; 3, 4: 4, and 5: 5. The odds for this bet are 8:1 and 10:1, which means a lot of money can be won easily.
Big 6 and Big 8 – These are the worst bets in craps because they only pay out 2:1. For one of these bets to win, a 6 or an 8 must be rolled before a 7.
Place & Buy – allows players to bet on any of the point numbers such as 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, but only after a first point number has been established. As in Big 6 or Big 8, the bet is considered a winner if the number of bet points comes out before a 7 is rolled.
What Is the Significance of 7 in Craps?
Many craps players fear the number 7 because it is the number that is most likely to appear, with the odds of it appearing being 1 out of 6 (or 6 out of 36 possible combinations). In contrast, the odds are 1 out of 36 for a 2 or a 12 because there’s only one possible combination for these numbers. After placing pass bets, players are advised to start employing an optimum craps strategy (such as laying the odds) in order to avoid the bad luck associated with rolling a 7.
Basic Online Craps Strategy
Whether you play craps online, offline, for real money, or for free, this is still a game of chance and there’s not much you can do to tip the odds in your favor. What you can do, however, is maximize your chances of winning by implementing a few strategic moves into your gameplay.
Wait for the Point
It may sound crazy to not take part in the first round, but forgoing the shooter and simply waiting until a point has been established is a good way to gauge your next moves and help you with your next betting decisions. It also reduces the house edge!
Stay Away for “Hard” Bets
As mentioned, the “big six” and “big 8” bets are when you predict that a 6 or an 8 will be rolled before a 7. Even though both of these numbers are nearly as common as rolling a 7, these particular bets are a terrible option because the placement on the table gives them a house edge of 9%. This is even worse than most American roulette bets!
Place Series Bets
While you can still win a good amount of money on some single-roll bets, players may be able to achieve a payout easier if they opt for series rolls bets instead. This is because each number has an equal chance of appearing on the faces of both dice, which means that there is a higher chance of these numbers occurring and winning. Even though the payout may be smaller, your odds are naturally better with series rolls.
Conclusion
Hopefully this has given you a better understanding of how to play craps and the sorts of bets you can place. While the craps table may look a bit overwhelming at first glance, playing for free is the best way to familiarize yourself with the different betting options, the odds of winning each bet, and how you can get the most out of your wagers when you do eventually play for real money.
FAQs
What’s the best bet you can place in craps?
If you want the safest option, it would be the pass bet because this has the lowest house edge out of all other bets in the game, coming in at 1.41% and delivering a payout of 1:1.
Can I play craps for real money?
Absolutely. You can play craps or real money at any of our top recommended sites.
Is free online craps available for mobile?
Yes, if you play at any of our tried and tested sites, you’ll be able to download their mobile casino or play craps directly through your device’s browser.