How the game works
A Come bet is essentially a “game within a game.” It functions exactly like a Pass Line bet, but you make it after the shooter has already established a point. It allows you to have multiple numbers working for you simultaneously, all with the same low 1.41% house edge as the Pass Line.
The basic rules
- You place your chips in the “COME” area of the layout while a point is already active.
- The very next roll acts as a “Come-Out” roll for your specific bet.
- If the shooter rolls a 7 or 11, your Come bet wins even money. If they roll a 2, 3, or 12, your bet loses.
- If a point number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) is rolled, your bet “moves” to that number.
- Once on a number, you win if that number rolls again before a 7. You lose if the 7 rolls first.
A typical hand/round
The table point is 6. You place $10 in the Come area. The shooter rolls a 9. The dealer moves your $10 chip into the box for the number 9. You then place another $40 on the felt and say, “Odds on the 9.” The dealer places that money on top of your Come bet, slightly offset. You now have a “Come point” of 9. If the shooter rolls a 9, you win $10 on the Come bet and $60 (3:2) on your Odds. If they roll a 7, you lose both.
What’s different at different tables
The most critical variation is whether “Come Odds” work on the shooter’s Come-Out roll. By default, most casinos consider Come Odds “Off” when the shooter is trying to establish a new main point. If a 7 rolls on the Come-Out, your main Come bet on the number loses, but your Odds are returned to you. You can tell the dealer “All my odds are working” if you want them to stay active during the Come-Out.
Where to go next
Understand why this bet is a pro favorite in the Craps Come Bet vs Place Bet comparison, or look at the math in Craps 3x 4x 5x Odds.
In Detail
The come bet is the pass line’s younger sibling: same family, same math, but it walks onto the table after the point is already set.
This page is about a fresh pass-line-style bet made after the come-out roll. On the surface, that may sound like one small corner of craps, but in a real casino it touches the three things that decide whether a player survives the table: the written rule, the payout, and the way the bet feels when chips are already in action. Craps is dangerous for beginners because a bet can feel smart, social, or lucky while still being badly priced.
The math that matters: Two dice create 36 equally likely ordered combinations. The shape of the game comes from that grid: 7 has 6 combinations, 6 and 8 have 5 each, 5 and 9 have 4 each, 4 and 10 have 3 each, 3 and 11 have 2 each, and 2 and 12 have only 1 each. The come bet has about 1.41% house edge. Once it travels to a number, odds behind it have $EV=0$ because they pay true odds. Expected value is the grown-up way to price a bet: $EV=\sum(P_i\times W_i)-\sum(P_j\times L_j)$. If the payout is smaller than the true probability deserves, the difference is the house edge.
What it means on the felt: Come bets let you build action across numbers without manually choosing each place bet. The dice create the map for you. A player who understands this subject does not need to act like a robot. You can still enjoy the noise, the shooter, the stick calls, and the little rush when the dice leave the hand. The point is to know when you are paying for entertainment and when you are making a lower-cost decision.
Casino-floor truth: Craps is built to move. The table crew wants clear bets, fast decisions, and clean payouts. The layout also nudges attention toward action. The safest-looking move is not always the cheapest move, and the loudest bet is almost never the best one. Good craps play is not about predicting the next roll. It is about refusing to overpay for it.
The mistake to avoid: Do not lose track of where your come bets moved. Confused cheering gets expensive. Also, never judge this topic by one lucky hit or one ugly loss. Short sessions are noisy. The math only shows its face over repeated decisions, which is exactly why casinos are patient and players are usually not.