Know the Oddscrappy Craps

How to play craps: the free course

How to play craps in one paragraph: every round starts with a come-out roll. A 7 or 11 wins for the Pass Line and a 2, 3 or 12 loses; any other total becomes the point. The shooter then keeps rolling: the point again wins, a 7 first loses (the seven-out). Every other bet is a variation on that race against the 7. Lesson 3 walks through a full round.

Learn craps from zero to perfect strategy. 21 short lessons in 6 chapters (about 3 hours in all), with practice scenes and quizzes in the app.

Progress is saved on your device. Works offline once installed.

Start the course in crappy: free, play money

Chapter 1: Foundations

Dice, the table and how a round works.

  1. Two dice, 36 outcomes Count the 36 ways two dice can land and see why 7 rules the table. (6 min)
  2. A tour of the table Learn the layout, the crew and the puck, so the table stops looking like a maze. (5 min)
  3. Come-out, point, seven-out The two phases of every round, and the flip that makes 7 a friend and then an enemy. (8 min)

Chapter 2: The core game

Pass, odds and Come: the heart of low-edge craps.

  1. The Pass Line Place your first bet, follow it through a full round and learn why it is a contract. (6 min)
  2. EV and house edge, in plain English Turn "the house has an edge" into a number you can read off the EV panel. (8 min)
  3. Odds: the best bet in the house The one bet with no house edge, and how it shrinks the cost of your Pass bet. (9 min)
  4. Come bets: more points, same deal A Come bet is a Pass bet you can make on any roll. Watch it travel to a number and add odds. (8 min)
  5. Checkpoint: the core game A cumulative quiz and a practice scene covering lessons 1 to 7. (8 min)

Chapter 3: More ways to bet

Place, buy, lay, the Don't side, Field, Big 6/8 and the center props.

  1. Place bets Bet a number directly, without waiting for a Come bet to travel, and learn which numbers are cheap. (6 min)
  2. Buy and Lay bets: paying commission Buy bets pay true odds minus a commission, and Lay bets are the Don't-side version. Learn when Buy beats Place. (7 min)
  3. The Don't side Bet against the shooter. Don't Pass, Don't Come and lay odds, and how the two sides compare. (6 min)
  4. Field and Big 6/8 Why seven numbers beat four only on paper, and why Big 6/8 is just a worse Place 6/8. (5 min)
  5. Hardways, props and the middle of the table The loud bets in the center of the table, what they pay, and why they cost so much. (7 min)

Chapter 4: The math that matters

Edge per roll, variance, bankroll and the myths.

  1. Edge per bet vs edge per roll, and the cost of an hour Why a one-roll bet that "only" costs 5.56% is far more expensive per hour than a Pass Line bet. (6 min)
  2. Variance, swings and bankroll Why short sessions are mostly luck, what odds do to your swings, and how much to bring. (7 min)
  3. Myths, systems and dice control No betting system changes the house edge. Spot the gambler's fallacy and weigh dice control honestly. (5 min)

Chapter 5: The real casino

How to behave and bet at a live table.

  1. Playing at a real table How to buy in, call bets, shoot, tip and behave at a live craps table. (6 min)

Chapter 6: Perfect strategy

Three lenses on the best way to play: lowest edge, practical, most fun per dollar.

  1. Perfect strategy I: the lowest possible edge The pure-math lens. Which play costs the least per dollar bet, and what "perfect" can and can't promise. (9 min)
  2. Perfect strategy II: low edge, real life The practical lens. A near-minimum-edge plan that fits your bankroll, your temperament and the table. (9 min)
  3. Perfect strategy III: the most fun per dollar The fun lens. Compare popular action strategies by expected cost per hour and swing per dollar, then keep a one-page cheat sheet. (10 min)
  4. Final exam Twelve questions from the whole course, plus one practice session. (12 min)

Quick reference