Things you should know about Craps House Edge
The house edge on a particular game is something every player should know before wagering their hard earned money on it. For some games like slots, it is easy to deduce what the house advantage is from the advertised payout rates but on other games like Craps, it's not as simple due to the fact that these games offer a variety of different bets which can be played in a number of ways. In fact, craps house edge often needs to be calculated in order to accurately ascertain what you're up against on each bet and still there are a number of things that you will need to keep in mind.
Like for example, the fact that you may wager on a bet that has a house edge of 0.50% on a single roll but if the possible outcome for the wager are a push, then you'll generally find that you bet will stay on the table for several consecutive rolls. Some players will mistakenly think that the wager itself has a 0.50% house edge when the reality is that it is significantly higher due to the fact that the average wager is subject to multiple rolls.
A place bet is yet another great example. When making a place bet you can place it on a four, five, six, eight, nine or ten on the craps table and then if your number comes up you win and if a seven is rolled you lose. Any other numbers are deemed a push which means that you'll experience a push more often than not no matter which of the aforementioned numbers you’re betting on.
This means that while the house advantage on a place bet is 0.46% if you wager on a single roll six or eight, this is the most favourable edge possible, in reality you'll generally be subject to a 1.52% edge on your wager if you leave it in play until the outcome is resolved.
The opposite bet is another good example of house edge variation. In this bet however you win when a seven is rolled and lose on the number you have wagered on. If you "place to lose" on six or eight your wager will be subject to a 0.56% house edge on a single roll but if you keep it in play and multiple rolls occur you'll end up against a 1.82% advantage. Again the reason for this significant increase is due to the number of possible push results that can occur.
As you can see from the above discussion, one has to think about house edge rather differently when playing craps than you would on some other games. So next time you play keep in mind that instead of just considering the house advantage on the wager itself, you also have to think about the entire house edge until your bet is resolved. This will give you a much clearer indication of what you're really up against and make strategic decisions and bankroll management simpler.
