How the game works
The Pass Line is the fundamental bet in craps. When you bet the Pass Line, you are betting with the shooter—rooting for them to win. It is a “contract” bet, meaning once it’s on the layout and a point is established, you cannot take it down until the shooter either hits the point or sevens out. It carries one of the lowest house edges in the casino at 1.41%.
The basic rules
- You must place your bet before the “Come-Out” roll (when the puck is OFF).
- If the shooter rolls a 7 or 11, you win even money.
- If the shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12, you lose (Craps).
- If the shooter rolls any other number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10), that number becomes the Point.
- You win if the shooter rolls the Point again before rolling a 7. You lose if the 7 comes first.
A typical hand/round
You place a $25 chip on the Pass Line. The shooter rolls an 11. The dealer pays you $25 immediately. On the next Come-Out roll, the shooter rolls a 6. The puck moves to the 6. You are now waiting for the shooter to roll another 6. After four rolls of various numbers, the shooter rolls a 6. The dealer announces “Winner, Six!” and pays your $25 bet. You have won $50 total in this round.
What’s different at different tables
The only major variation you will see on the Pass Line is “Crapless Craps.” On a Crapless table, the 2, 3, 11, and 12 are all points instead of winners/losers. This sounds better for the player, but it’s a trap—it nearly quadruples the house edge from 1.41% to 5.38%. Stick to a standard table whenever possible.
Where to go next
Learn how to maximize your profit with Craps Odds Bets or see why the math favors the Craps Dont Pass bet for advantage players.
In Detail
Pass line is the handshake bet of craps. It says, “I’m with the shooter,” and everyone at the table understands your side.
This page is about the standard bet that follows the shooter. 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. At about 1.41% edge, pass line is one of the cheaper bets. With odds, the blended edge drops. 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: The pass line also controls the social mood. When the point hits, most of the table celebrates. 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 ruin a good base bet by surrounding it with bad props. 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.