Repeater Bets

Repeater bets turn a craps hand into a race between one chosen total and the 7. Instead of asking a number to appear once, the wager asks it to appear a specified number of times before 7 ends the attempt. The attraction is obvious: every hit feels like visible progress. The important detail is less obvious: the required hit count and the payout depend on the exact Repeater version printed on the layout.

Start with the paytable, not the name

“Repeater” describes a family of side bets, not one universal rules sheet. A widely analyzed version uses mirrored hit counts around 7:

That is why a common Repeater 8 does not necessarily require eight 8s. In the mirrored version, it needs six. Other installations have used different rules, including versions in which higher totals can require their own number of hits. Before comparing house edges, confirm the rule on the actual layout.

The Wizard of Odds Repeater analysis documents the mirrored structure above, while its craps side-bet appendix also shows how alternative Repeater variants can change both hit requirements and cost.

A Repeater is a race with neutral rolls in the middle

Suppose you bet Repeater 6 under the common six-hit version. Only two totals matter to the final result:

• every 6 advances your count by one;
• a 7 kills the unfinished bet;
• every other total is neutral and the race continues.

A neutral roll can make the wager feel as though it is “surviving,” but it has not moved closer in probability terms. The next roll still has five combinations that make 6 and six combinations that make 7. The count already accumulated matters because fewer future 6s are required, but an unrelated 4, 9, or 10 has not improved the dice distribution.

This makes Repeaters fundamentally different from Place 6 and Place 8. A Place 6 needs one 6 before 7. A Repeater 6 asks for a sequence of six successes before the same killer total arrives.

The clean probability shortcut ignores all neutral totals

For a selected number, you can simplify the race by temporarily ignoring rolls that are neither the target nor 7.

For a 6:

Target combinations = 5
Seven combinations = 6
Chance that the next decisive roll is 6 = 5 / (5 + 6) = 5/11

Under a six-hit Repeater 6, the target must win that decisive race six times in a row before the first 7:

P(complete Repeater 6) = (5/11)^6
                       ≈ 0.0088199
                       ≈ 0.882%

That probability is small even though 6 itself is one of the most common box numbers. The player is not buying “a bet on a common number.” The player is buying a six-stage survival sequence.

The same idea works for other totals. For a 5, there are four combinations of 5 against six combinations of 7, so each decisive race is 4/10. If five hits are required:

P(complete Repeater 5) = (4/10)^5 = 0.01024 = 1.024%

Why the big-looking payouts can still be expensive

A payout has to be compared with the completion probability. In the commonly analyzed mirrored schedule, the approximate house edges are not small:

Those figures are version-specific, but they show the central point: a 40-for-1, 65-for-1, or 90-for-1 return can sound generous while still pricing the underlying event poorly.

If the layout uses a different hit count or payout, do not reuse these percentages. Recalculate from that paytable.

Watch one hand without confusing progress with value

Imagine a $5 Repeater 6 that needs six hits. The roll sequence is:

6, 8, 5, 6, 4, 9, 6, 10, 3, 6, 8, 5, 7

The counter reached four. At the table, that can feel close. Financially, it is still a full $5 loss when 7 appears.

Now compare a $6 Place 6 during the same sequence. The four 6s could each produce a normal Place 6 win, subject to the player keeping the wager working. The two wagers use the same number but sell completely different products:

• the Place bet sells repeated one-hit resolutions;
• the Repeater sells one long sequence with a jackpot-style payoff.

“Four out of six” is emotionally meaningful because the progress is displayed. It does not mean the casino owes partial value unless the specific product includes a surrender or cash-out feature.

The count is also an operational control problem

At a live table, Repeater bets create a tracking duty that ordinary one-roll propositions do not. The crew may need markers, lammers, a dedicated display, or an electronic counter to show how many qualifying hits have occurred.

That matters because the predictable dispute is not “what did the dice total?” It is “was that the third 5 or the fourth?” If the payout is meaningful, the boxperson, floor supervisor, or surveillance team may need to reconstruct the sequence.

A sound procedure therefore separates three things:

1. whether the side bet was booked before the cutoff;
2. how qualifying rolls are recorded;
3. what happens to unfinished counts when 7 appears or a shooter changes under the posted rule.

Players should also avoid assuming that a Repeater survives a 7 because another casino used a reset, surrender, or differently branded product.

Near completion is the feature that makes the bet sticky

Repeater bets are unusually good at producing the feeling that previous losses have created value. Once a counter shows four hits, walking away can feel like abandoning an investment.

But the money already lost on earlier attempts is gone. A new Repeater wager should be judged from its current price and rules, not from how many previous shooters “almost got there.” Even within a live unfinished Repeater, the displayed count changes the conditional chance of completing that existing wager; it does not make a fresh side bet elsewhere more favorable.

This is a useful distinction between conditional probability and the gambler’s fallacy. The current state of an active multi-stage wager matters. A remembered streak from a finished wager does not change the next dice roll.

Estimate session cost from total action, not from ticket size

A player who puts $5 on one Repeater may describe the bet as “only five dollars.” If the wager is renewed frequently, or if five different Repeaters are booked together, the exposure grows quickly.

For a paytable with house edge h:

Expected loss per wager = stake × h
Expected session loss ≈ total Repeater action × h

If a particular $5 Repeater carries an 18% edge, its theoretical loss is about $0.90 each time that $5 is newly put at risk. Twenty such decisions create $100 of total action and roughly $18 of expected loss under the same assumptions.

The exact session result can be far above or below that figure because these bets are volatile. Expected loss is a long-run pricing measure, not a prediction of what one shooter will do. Use the expected loss calculator for the money side and the variance simulator for the swing side.

Questions that prevent the most expensive misunderstandings

Does a 7 always cancel a Repeater?

That is the usual defining condition, but the posted product rules control. Check whether the installation has any surrender, carryover, or special reset provision.

Does Repeater 8 always mean eight rolls of 8?

No. A common mirrored version requires six 8s before 7. Some other variants use different counts. This is exactly why the paytable has to be read before the wager is priced.

Is a Repeater just a high-paying Place bet?

No. Place bets resolve one target-versus-7 race at a time. A Repeater requires a sequence of target hits before the killer total.

Are Repeaters good because the target count is visible?

Visibility helps you understand the state of the wager; it does not improve the payout. The house edge comes from the combination of completion probability and return.

A better way to compare the side-bet menu

When you see Repeaters beside All Tall Small, the Fire Bet, hardways, or one-roll propositions, compare four properties rather than asking which jackpot looks largest:

• event definition — exactly what must happen;
• time to resolution — one roll, several rolls, or a whole hand;
• paytable — “to 1” versus “for 1” matters;
• house edge and total action — the price of repeated participation.

For the underlying dice combinations, start with craps odds and craps house edge. Repeater bets become much easier to judge once the flashing counter is separated from the probability race underneath it.