Aggressive Craps Strategy
The game of craps is the most popular betting game in many casinos because of its high energy. Some experienced players came up with aggressive craps betting strategies to win big.
17 pass line losers in a row is the record for what I've personally witnessed on craps. 19 losing hands in a row is the most I've had playing Blackjack. It's the long losing spells that doom progressions that are too aggressive. I was knocked off 5 times just last night on the negative progression I use on the dark side on the bubble. I just finished playing in the Las Vegas Hilton $100,000 invitational craps tournament. Top prize was $50,000, second place was $10,000 and the money went all the down to 24 th place at $1000. Playing in a tournament is a little different from playing in a normal situation. The game of craps is the most popular betting game in many casinos because of its high energy. Some experienced players came up with aggressive craps betting strategies to win big. The history of the energetic craps game dates back to the early 12th century and the Crusades. The army of Crusaders holding castles overseas. Craps Betting Systems. There are various betting strategy and systems used in Craps gambling. The biggest fallacy is that using systems swings the odds in your favour. In the Casino game of Craps (Bank Craps) all the bets are in the house’s favour.
The history of the energetic craps game dates back to the early 12th century and the Crusades. The army of Crusaders holding castles overseas under siege had a lot of spare time. One of the bishops accompanying the troops was Sir William of Tyre, who invented the game to entertain the soldiers. Hundreds of years later, the game reached the American soil. It spread rapidly through all the casinos from Las Vegas to Monte Carlo.
At 3X, this strategy reduces the house edge to 0.47%. With the 3X-4X-5X it’s 37%. With 10X odds the strategy produces a house edge of 0.18%. Once again, this.still. doesn’t give you the best of it–or an ‘overlay’ in gambling parlance–but it does give the player a fighting chance to grind out a profit. Strategy For Craps Questions.
The Basics of Craps
To learn to play craps, a player needs to know several basic rules. The game is played on the green felt table with marked fields. To play the game, players throw two dice. The dice determine the outcome. The number of different combinations you can roll is 36. Before each roll, the stickman presents the shooter (the person who rolls) with the dice, and the casino dealer handles the bets. This first roll is called the come out roll, marking the beginning of the game. The rollout continues until the shooter rolls the “decision number,” which concludes the set.
The Types and Possibilities of Craps Strategies
Everyone who paid a visit to a casino with the intention to learn to play craps saw people cheering around the craps table. The majority of beginners’ first impression is that someone has just won big money. In fact, it’s the game that creates a fun atmosphere. The players are betting on their predictions, and a bet won or lost is what creates the intricacies among the players and onlookers alike. The players’ eyes always sparkle with hope and anticipation. Each roll of the dice creates a charged atmosphere. While all eyes are on the dice, the excitement spreads around the table.
Depending on the character of a person standing at the table, the craps betting strategy can be rather aggressive. These are usually not recreational players, and they go for big wins. The majority of players stick to the same strategy to keep their finances under control. Having a strategy means being highly disciplined, devising a plan, and going with it.
Popular Craps Strategies
Place 6 or 8 to win or lose — This bet has the lowest house edge, i.e., 1.52% to win and 1.82% to lose since these are the most frequently rolled numbers.
Place 5 or 9 to lose — The house edge is 2.5%.
The Martingale — This strategy means you double up the sum and catch up. Not all players are fans of the strategy. It is a negative progression system which means that whenever a player loses, they double their bet. This continues until they win, and then a new sequence begins.
The Reverse Martingale — Also a progressive system, but reversed. The initial bet is the greatest sum, and it decreases after each loss.
Based on these, the advanced players develop more aggressive craps strategies. The actual guide to them does not exist, and yet each day, a new one is tried at casino tables. The eleven most played aggressive strategies are:
- Any Craps — This means betting on 2, 3, or 12. It has a higher payout and a house edge of 11%.
- The Horn — A bet split between the numbers 2, 3, 11, or 12. It has a very high payout and a house edge of 12.5%.
- The Whirl of World — A combo which includes the horn bet and the any seven bet. It has a house edge of 13.33%.
- Individual Bets — Players place bets on the combinations of their liking.
- The Hard 6 or 8 — The house edge is 9.9%. The hardway combinations mean you need to roll a pair of doubles (e.g., 3+3).
- The Hard 4 or 10 — It comes with a house edge of 11.1%.
- Straight Up 2 — Also known as “Snake Eyes.” It has a high payout and a house edge of 13.89%.
- Straight Up 3 — It has a house edge of 11.1%.
- Straight Up 7 — This one is also called “Big Red” and has a house edge of 16.67%.
- Straight Up 11 — The “yo-eleven” bet has a house edge of 11.11%.
- Straight Up 12 — It is known as “Midnight,” and it has a house edge of 13.89%.
The Safest and Most Popular Bets
According to regular players, the most popular bets are the ones which have a higher chance to win.
Pass Bet — This is the crucial bet in craps. It pays even money and it boasts a house advantage of 1.41%.
Don’t Pass Bet — This one is not the most popular craps bet because it is the mirror image of the pass bet, which means when most of the other players lose, you win. However, this is one of those amazing craps bets with a very low house edge, i.e., 1.36%.
Odds Bets — The house edge for these peculiar craps bets is, weirdly, non-existent. But these can only be made on top of other bets. Basically, a player bets that another number will be rolled before seven.
Come and Don’t Come Bets — These are made at any point after the come out roll and have the same odds as the don’t pass and pass bets.
When Things Go Wrong
As you can see, there are many craps bets and craps strategies that can win nice sums of money, but they can also be a one-way ticket to failure. Most of the aggressive players have that glint in their eyes as if they’re saying “I am going to win for sure.” It is all good when this really comes true, but what happens when things go awry? Well, this type of player tends to play long-term games and is not bothered by temporary losses.
Some of the aggressive players, on the other hand, develop a system of money management. They play until they reach the pre-planned limit when they leave with casino chips and come back another day. Others are bold enough to cross over to the “Dark Side” as playing against the shooter is called. The best bet, however, is the one you are comfortable with, financially and in terms of action. That alone, the atmosphere of the game of guessing is what sets craps apart from other casino games.
When you’re playing poker, it’s better to be an aggressive player rather than a passive player. This actually influences your edge over the other players.
In casino games like craps, however, being aggressive versus being passive doesn’t have the same effect. The house edge for the bets remains the same regardless of how much you bet.
But aggression can help you achieve bigger wins if you like. The cost you face when choosing such a strategy is that you’re accepting the risk of greater potential losses.
Different Craps Strategies and Different Craps Bets
Many people who are new to the game of craps are often bewildered by the variety of bets available. They should be, too, because not all the bets are the same. Some of them provide the casino with a much higher edge.
I recommend avoiding any craps bet with an edge of greater than 2%. Aggressive players might be willing to accept a greater house edge in exchange for the opportunity to get bigger wins part of the time. Even then, I think it’s a good idea to avoid bets with a house edge much higher than 5% or so.
Don’t take any bet with a house edge in the 10% range.
It’s just the statistical average of how much you can expect to lose if you place a nearly infinite number of those bets in a row.
For example, if you bet $100 at a time and make 50 bets, you’ve put $5000 into action.
If the house edge on those bets is 1.41%, your expected loss is 1.41% of $5000, or $70.50.
Of course, that’s a long-term expectation. In the short run, you can win or lose far more than that. The closer you get to an infinite number of bets, the closer to that average you’ll get.
Which Bets Are More Passive and Less Aggressive?
To keep things simple, let’s just agree that the bets with the lowest payout odds are the least aggressive.
This means that the bets that pay out even money are less aggressive.
They also happen to be the bets with the lowest house edge.
We’re talking about the pass line and don’t pass bets, which pay out at even money.
The house edge on the pass line bet is 1.41%, and the house edge on the don’t pass bet is 1.36%. Those are some of the best numbers in the casino, by the way.

The problem is that some people are interested in winning more than even money.
For them, the trick is to bet more aggressively.
The Best Aggressive Bet in Craps
When the shooter makes a point, you have the option of placing a bet called the “free odds” bet.
This is a bet that the shooter will make the point again before rolling a 7.
This bet is unique – not just among craps bets, but among casino game bets – because it has no house edge. It pays off at true odds.
All casino games have payoff odds that are slightly lower than your odds of winning. That’s how the casino makes its money.
But when the shooter tries to make a point and succeeds, the odds bet pays off at the actual odds of winning.
This means that it’s the only bet in the casino with no house edge.
The payoffs, therefore, are better than even money and carry no house edge.
If the point is 5 or 9, the bet pays off at 3 to 2 odds.
If the point is 6 or 8, the bet pays off at 6 to 5 odds.
Plus, you can bet more than you bet on the original pass line bet when you’re placing the free odds bet. All casinos have a maximum amount they’ll let you bet on odds, but it’s usually at least twice the size of your pass line bet. In some casinos, you can even bet 100x what you bet on the pass line.
Here’s an example:
You bet $10 on the pass line, and the shooter rolls a 4. The casino allows you to bet 100x the size of your pass line bet, so you bet $1000 on the free odds bet.
The shooter makes the 4 before rolling a 7, so you get a $2010 payout. That’s $2000 on the odds bet and $10 on the pass line bet.
When you start with a $10 bet and follow it up with a $2000 bet, you’re being aggressive.
But you’re also being smart because you’re placing a bet that has no house edge. Over a long enough number of trials, you’ll break even. Neither you nor the casino will show a profit on this action, long-term.
Other Reasonable, Conservative Bets
The come and don’t come bets are basically the same as the pass and don’t pass bets, and they have the same low house edge. You can also make odds bets with those options. There’s nothing too aggressive about either of these strategies, although it’s more aggressive to place that odds bet.
Place bets are more aggressive but come with worse odds. I don’t recommend making most place bets, but if you’re just dying to get enough money on the table, it can be worth it to make them.
Think of a place bet as being just like an odds bet, only you get to choose which number is the equivalent of the point.
For example, if you bet place 4, you win that bet if the shooter rolls a 4 before rolling a 7, and you lose if the shooter rolls a 7 before rolling a 4.
The odds of winning a place 4 bet are 2 to 1, just like they would be if you were taking an odds bet when the point was 4.
The big difference is that the payout for the place bet is 9 to 5 instead of 2 to 1.
This gives the house an edge.
The place 5 and place 9 bets pay off at 7 to 5 but have 3 to 2 odds of winning.
The place 6 and place 8 bets pay off at 7 to 6 odds but have 6 to 5 odds of winning.
The house edge for these bets follows:
- Place 4 or 10 – 6.7%
- Place 5 or 9 – 4%
- Place 6 or 8 – 1.5%
You’ll notice that place 6 and place 8 have a house edge almost as low as the house edge on the pass line bet, but with a better payout.
Which Bets Are Most Aggressive?
The most aggressive bets, though, consist largely of the proposition bets. These aren’t even listed on the table, and to place these bets, you deal with the stickman. He won’t be hard to find because his job is to encourage players to make these bets.
The most aggressive bet on the table is the snake eyes bet, which pays off at 30 to 1. The boxcars bet has the same odds and payouts.
The former is a bet that the next roll will come up with a total of 2, and the latter is a bet that the next roll will come up with a total of 12.
The odds of winning either of those bets are 35 to 1, so with a 30 to 1 payout, it’s easy to see why the house loves for you to place that bet. The house edge on either of those bets is 13.889%.
The hardway bets are also notoriously aggressive. A hardway bet is a wager that the dice will land on a pair of 2s, 3s, 4s, or 5s. The total is the hard number. For example, a hard 10 is a pair of 5s on the dice. A hard 8 is a pair of 4s.
These bets lose if the shooter rolls a 7 OR rolls the easy total – the total without the pair.
The payout is 7 to 1 for a hard 4 or hard 10 bet, and the house edge is 11.11%.
How to Be Aggressive Without Giving up So Much of an Edge to the House
The best way to bet craps aggressively is to get a lot of money on the low house edge bets on the table at one time. You can bet the pass line, then bet the come, and then bet the come again. And you can take odds on all three of those bets.
Now you have three numbers working at the same time.
If you don’t want to wait for the shooter to roll a point number, you can also combine your pass line bet with a place 6 or place 8 bet (or both). This puts lots of money into action, and if the shooter gets hot, your winnings skyrocket.
Aggressive Craps Strategy
Conclusion
You can be an aggressive or a conservative craps bettor, but the smart way to be aggressive is to get several bets working at once and make sure those bets all have a low house edge.
Most Aggressive Craps Strategy
What’s your experience at the craps table like?
Aggressive Blackjack Strategy

Do you ever get aggressive and try to hit a big win with a long-odds bet?