When you are playing online craps you need to look at one session as if it were a series of many sessions put together and that the results of any one session is not important. It is just how you do at the end of a period of sessions that matters. You can reduce the house’s edge considerably by truly understanding all of the different bets and the true odds along with the pay out odds for each bet.
When you play craps for real money, the odds are usually much better at online casinos than they are at their land based relatives. Even so the house edge is a factor that is not going to go away and one that you will have to reconcile yourself with. Since in the best of worlds you will only be able to get the online craps odds closer to even then your only chance for winning at online craps is to be able to minimize your losses and maximize your winnings at craps.
Know The Odds Like The Back of Your Hand
One of the advantages of playing online craps is that you can have a note pad right next to you that has all kinds of information that will be helpful to you in playing craps. In time you will come to memorize all of this data but until that time comes you can take advantage of it by having it next to you by your computer. Some numbers are more likely to come up when you are rolling two dice than others. The reason for this is that there are either more or less possible combination of the two dice that will equate to the number. Take a look at the following chart to see the combinations:
| Number | Combinations |
| 2 | 1 + 1 |
| 3 | 1 + 2, 2 + 1 |
| 4 | 1 + 3, 2 + 2, 3 + 1 |
| 5 | 1 + 4, 2 + 3, 3 + 2, 4 +,1 |
| 6 | 1 + 5, 2 + 4, 3 + 3, 4 + 2, 5 + 1 |
| 7 | 1 + 6, 2 + 5, 3 + 4, 4 + 3, 5 + 2, 6 + 1 |
| 8 | 2 + 6, 3 + 5, 4 + 4, 5 + 3, 6 + 2 |
| 9 | 3 + 6, 4 + 5, 5 + 4, 6 + 3 |
| 10 | 4 + 6, 5 + 5, 6 + 4 |
| 11 | 5 + 6, 6 + 5 |
| 12 | 6 + 6 |
Pick the Right Bets to Make
Craps has so many different kinds of bets that it can be pretty confusing to the newer player. There are even situations where you can bet the same number to come out in different ways and they do not pay the same odds. This is why it is important for you to have this information sitting by your computer as you are playing so that you can make the right decisions until you have the information memorized, as you certainly will in time. As an example, you should avoid betting on the big 6 and the big 8. When you bet on the big 6 or the big 8 you are betting that the shooter will roll a 6 or an 8 before he rolls a 7. Big 6 and big 8 bets are located at the corner of the table near the pass line and they pay 1 to 1, even money. If you make a place bet of 6 or 8 you will be paid at 7 to 6 which over time is a considerable edge.
Types of Bets in Online Craps
Here is a list of the different types of bets that you can make in online craps. We are going to put these bets in to two categories, Single Roll Bets and Multi roll bets:
Single Roll Bets
| 2 (Snake Eyes or Aces) | Wins if the Shooter rolls a 2 |
| 2 (Ace – Deuce) | Wins if the shooter rolls a 3 |
| 11 (Yo) | Wins if the shooter rolls a 11 |
| 12 (boxcard, midnight, or cornrows) | Wins if the shooter rolls a 12 |
| 2 or 12 (Hi – Lo) | Wins if the shooter rolls a 2 or a 12 |
| Any Craps (Three – Way) | Wins if the shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12 |
| C & E | Combination bet. Half bet on craps and the other half bet on Yo 11. One of the two bets will always be a loser and one might win |
| Any seven | Wins if the shooter rolls a 7 |
| The Horn | This is actually four bets on four separate numbers. The numbers are 2, 3, 11, and 12. |
| Whirl or world | This is actually five bets on five separate numbers. The numbers are 2, 3, 7, 11, and 12 |
| On The Hop | This is a single roll bet that a particular combination of dice will come up on the next roll or the dice. These are usually to be found in boxes in the middle of the table. |
| Field | Wins if the shooter rolls a 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12 |
Multi Roll Bets
| Hard Way | Wins if the shooter uses two dice of identical value to make his point before rolling a 7 or the number as an easy way. |
| Easy Way | Wins if the shooter rolls the number you have bet on in any combination |
| Big 6 and Big 8 | Wins if the shooter rolls a 6 or an 8 before he rolls a 7 or makes his point |
| Place and Buy | These are bets on a particular number that you select after the shooter has made a point. These bets will pay off as many time as the number comes up until the shooter rolls a 7 or makes his point. |
| Lay | This is the opposite of a buy bet where you are betting that the shooter will roll a 7 before he rolls the number that you bet on. |