Online Craps UK — Rules, Best Bets & Top Sites
Craps is the table game with the biggest gap between its intimidating table layout and its genuinely excellent mathematics. The Pass Line bet, one of the simplest bets in the entire casino, carries a house edge of 1.41 per cent — better than European roulette, better than almost every table-game bet outside blackjack and baccarat. Adding an "odds" bet behind the Pass Line reduces the combined house edge further, potentially below 0.5 per cent. The game rewards the effort of learning it. This page covers the full rules, the bets worth making, the bets to avoid, and the UK operators running active craps tables in 2026.
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The Basic Game Flow
Craps is a dice game. Two six-sided dice are rolled (by a "shooter" — in a physical casino this rotates among players; in RNG craps, the software rolls). Bets are placed before the roll. The dice total determines the outcome.
The game has two phases: the Come Out roll and the Point phase.
Come Out roll. The first roll of a new round. A total of 7 or 11 is an immediate win for Pass Line bets. A total of 2, 3 or 12 is a "craps" — an immediate loss for Pass Line bets. Any other total (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) becomes the "point" and the game moves into the Point phase.
Point phase. The shooter keeps rolling until either the point number is rolled again (Pass Line wins, and a new Come Out begins) or a 7 is rolled (Pass Line loses, and a new Come Out begins). All other totals during the Point phase are irrelevant to the Pass Line bet — they just continue the phase.
The Bets Worth Making
Pass Line. Pays 1:1. Win on Come Out of 7 or 11, lose on 2/3/12, otherwise the number rolled becomes the point and you win if the point repeats before a 7. House edge 1.41 per cent. The default craps bet and the one to make if you are not sure what else to do.
Don't Pass. The opposite of Pass Line. Lose on Come Out of 7 or 11, win on 2 or 3, push on 12 (the house's only advantage on this bet), otherwise win if 7 rolls before the point. House edge 1.36 per cent — marginally better than Pass Line. However, Don't Pass bets are socially unpopular at physical craps tables because they succeed when the shooter fails; this does not apply online where you play alone. Play Don't Pass online with no social downside.
Odds bet. Placed behind an existing Pass Line or Don't Pass bet after a point has been established. This bet has zero house edge — pays true odds. UK online craps typically offers 3x/4x/5x odds, meaning you can back up a £10 Pass Line with a £30-50 odds bet depending on the point number. The combined house edge of Pass Line plus full odds drops dramatically: at 3x odds to around 0.47 per cent, at 100x odds (rare outside some US tables) to 0.02 per cent. Always take odds when the point is established — it is the single best bet in the casino.
Come and Don't Come. Identical structure to Pass and Don't Pass, but placed during the Point phase rather than on the Come Out. House edges same as the corresponding Pass/Don't Pass bets (1.41 / 1.36 per cent). Useful for building multiple simultaneous point bets.
The Bets to Generally Avoid
Any Seven. Pays 4:1 on a total of 7. House edge 16.67 per cent. Terrible.
Hardways. Betting on a pair (hard 4 is 2+2, hard 6 is 3+3, hard 8 is 4+4, hard 10 is 5+5). House edges 9 to 11 per cent. Consistently bad.
Field bet. Wins on 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12 (approximately). House edge usually around 5.5 per cent. Mediocre — not the worst bet but far from the best.
Place bets. Bets on specific numbers to roll before a 7. House edges range from 1.52 per cent (Place 6 or 8) to 6.67 per cent (Place 4 or 10). Place 6 and Place 8 are reasonable alternatives to Pass Line; avoid the others.
Proposition bets. Single-roll bets in the middle of the layout. House edges 11 to 17 per cent. The worst-value bets on a craps table.
Optimal Strategy Summary
Pass Line (or Don't Pass) plus maximum odds is the optimal craps strategy for edge-conscious play. Come (or Don't Come) bets with maximum odds can be added to increase action while preserving near-zero house edge on the odds portion.
Everything else on the table is either neutral (Place 6 and Place 8) or actively bad value. The social attraction of craps — the lively table, the cheering for hot rolls, the many bet types — evaporates at online RNG tables, leaving you with just the mathematics. The mathematics favour the simple bets.
Live Dealer Craps
Evolution launched live dealer craps in 2020 and it has been available at UK operators since shortly after. The table is a physical craps table with a human dealer throwing the dice, streamed to your device. Live craps has a higher minimum stake (typically £1 to £5 on Pass Line) than RNG craps (often 10p or 25p) but delivers an experience closer to the physical casino feel that is part of what draws many craps players to the game.
Stadium Craps — an Evolution variant with a more elaborate studio and branded presentation — is available at some UK operators. Same underlying rules and bets.
RNG Craps
RNG craps is widely available at UK casinos and is usually the right starting point for new craps players. Lower stakes, self-paced play (you can pause to check rules or strategy), and the bets you place are settled instantly. Microgaming, Playtech and NYX all have RNG craps variants in UK casino lobbies.
Bonus Wagering
Craps contributes 10 per cent or 0 per cent to bonus wagering at most UK casinos. Not a bonus-clearance game — and even if it were, the high-variance nature of the side bets makes it a bad choice.
Our Top UK Craps Operators
Ladbrokes and Coral carry Playtech craps plus Evolution's live craps. Casumo, Casushi and 10Bet carry Evolution's live craps as their primary offering. For RNG craps, the Playtech and Microgaming versions are universally available across the top ten operators.
A Responsible Note
Craps tables offer dozens of bet types, many of them high-variance with high house edges. The temptation to spread bets across the layout is engineered into the game design. Stick to Pass Line plus odds, or Don't Pass plus odds, and decline everything else. Set a session bankroll that assumes Pass Line losses can cluster for extended runs. Our responsible gambling guide covers the toolkit. For deeper strategic coverage including specific bet-selection guidance and session approaches, see our craps strategy basics guide.
Craps Bet Selection and the Free Odds Advantage
Craps has a similar bet-selection problem to Sic Bo — dozens of bets, wildly different house edges — but it also has the single best bet in the entire casino, and any Craps strategy starts with understanding what that bet is and how to access it. The pass-line bet has a house edge of 1.41 per cent. The don't-pass bet is slightly better at 1.36 per cent. Once a point is established, the "free odds" bet has a house edge of exactly zero.
The free odds bet is the structural oddity that makes Craps worth learning. After the come-out roll establishes a point, the player can place an additional bet behind their pass-line wager that pays true odds — 2:1 on points of four or ten, 3:2 on five or nine, 6:5 on six or eight. Because these payouts reflect the actual probability of the point hitting before a seven, the free odds bet has no house advantage whatsoever. It is the only bet of its kind in mainstream casino gaming.
The practical consequence is that a player betting minimum pass-line with maximum allowed odds reduces the combined house edge on their total action to well below 1 per cent. Typical UK online craps tables allow 2x odds (you can bet twice the pass line on free odds), which reduces the combined edge to approximately 0.47 per cent. Tables allowing 3-4-5x odds push the combined edge to around 0.37 per cent. Tables allowing 10x odds (rare online) push it below 0.2 per cent.
The bets to avoid: "any seven" at 16.67 per cent house edge; "any craps" at 11.11 per cent; "hard ways" at 9.09 per cent or 11.11 per cent depending on the number; and all proposition bets in the centre of the table. These carry punitive edges because they pay on single-roll outcomes with mispriced odds.
The come and don't-come bets replicate pass-line / don't-pass dynamics mid-round and can also be backed with free odds. A player using pass-line plus come-bet approach with free odds on both can build multiple simultaneous positions with combined house edges below 0.5 per cent — genuinely competitive with blackjack. The game's reputation for complexity is largely about the proposition bets; stick to pass-line plus odds and the game is actually strategically simple and mathematically excellent.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best bet in craps?
Pass Line with maximum odds. The Pass Line bet alone has a 1.41% house edge. Adding "odds" behind it after a point is established is a zero-house-edge bet at true odds. Combined Pass Line plus 3x odds drops the effective house edge to around 0.47%. One of the best bets in the entire casino.
Can I play craps at UK online casinos?
Yes. Evolution launched live dealer craps in 2020 and it's now available at most UK operators — Ladbrokes, Coral, Casumo, Casushi, 10Bet. RNG craps from Playtech, Microgaming and NYX is universally available. Minimum stakes are typically £1 on Pass Line at RNG tables, £1-£5 on live tables. See our craps page.
What does "odds" mean in craps?
An optional additional bet placed behind your Pass Line (or Don't Pass) wager after a point is established. The odds bet pays true mathematical odds with zero house edge. UK craps typically offers 3x-4x-5x odds (3x odds on 4/10 points, 4x on 5/9, 5x on 6/8). Always take maximum odds — it's the only zero-edge bet in the casino.
Should I make prop bets in craps?
No. Proposition bets (Any Seven, Hardways, Field, C&E) carry house edges of 5% to 17% — dramatically worse than Pass Line at 1.41%. The craps table layout is specifically designed to spread bets across dozens of options, but almost all of them are worse than the Pass Line. Stick to Pass Line plus odds.
What is the difference between Pass Line and Don't Pass?
Pass Line wins on 7 or 11 on the come-out, loses on 2/3/12; otherwise wins if the point repeats before a 7. Don't Pass is the mirror — loses on 7/11 come-out, wins on 2/3 (push on 12), otherwise wins if a 7 rolls before the point. Don't Pass has a marginally lower house edge (1.36% vs 1.41%) but is socially unpopular at physical tables because it wins when shooters fail.