Craps Rules: Come-Out Rolls, Points and Pass Line Bets

This beginner’s guide explains common standard casino craps rules through the foundational Pass Line wager. Craps uses two dice, and each Pass Line decision starts with a come-out roll. That roll either resolves the wager immediately or establishes a point that must be repeated before a 7.

How a standard craps round works

On the come-out roll, a Pass Line wager wins on 7 or 11 and loses on 2, 3 or 12 under the common rules analyzed here. A total of 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 establishes that number as the point.

Once a point exists, the dice continue to be rolled. The Pass Line wins if the point repeats before a 7 and loses if 7 appears first. Other totals do not resolve that decision.

Editorial role

Desk research and reproducible calculation

Publication status

Undated editorial draft; source verification must be completed and dated before publication

Review status

The probability derivation is documented below. No hands-on table testing is claimed.

Ruleset

Common standard casino craps rules for the Pass Line and attached true-odds wager

On this page

Essential craps terms before the first roll

Come-out roll

The opening roll of a Pass Line or Don’t Pass decision before a point has been established.

Point

A target total established by a come-out roll of 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10. It is a game state, not a prediction about the next roll.

Pass Line

The foundational wager covered by this guide. It wins immediately on a come-out 7 or 11, loses immediately on 2, 3 or 12, and otherwise depends on whether the established point or 7 appears first.

Contract wager

An underlying wager, such as the Pass Line wager, that remains active until the applicable rules resolve it. The optional odds wager cannot replace this underlying wager.

Odds bet

An optional supplemental wager made after a point has been established. Under the analyzed rules, it is placed behind an active contract wager and pays at true mathematical odds.

Shooter

The person rolling the dice. Other table roles are not needed to understand the basic Pass Line sequence.

Seven-out

A roll of 7 after a point has been established and before the point repeats. For the Pass Line decision described here, that result is a loss.

See these terms applied in the round diagram.

Setup and rules assumed in this guide

This page analyzes common standard casino craps rules as described by the cited specialist source. It focuses on the Pass Line because that wager provides a clear way to understand the round. Proposition bets and other optional table wagers are not required to follow the lifecycle.

The Pass Line starts the decision; odds supplement it only after a point exists.

Fair rolls under unchanged conditions are independent. Previous results do not alter the 36-outcome distribution of the next roll.

Before participating, verify the posted rules, net payout wording and maximum odds. Venue, licensing and minimum-age questions should be checked through the workflow in U.S. Gambling Laws: How to Verify Dice-Game Legality.

Craps round lifecycle: from come-out roll to resolution

Text equivalent of the lifecycle

1. Start with an active Pass Line wager. The shooter makes the come-out roll.
2. If the come-out total is 7 or 11, the Pass Line wins. The decision ends immediately, and no point is established.
3. If the come-out total is 2, 3 or 12, the Pass Line loses. The decision ends immediately under the common rules analyzed here.
4. If the come-out total is 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, that number becomes the point. The Pass Line remains active, and an optional odds wager may now be available.
5. Continue rolling with the point active.
   • If the point repeats before 7, the Pass Line wins.
   • If 7 appears before the point, the Pass Line loses.
   • If another total appears, there is no decision and rolling continues.
6. Begin a new decision after resolution. The next Pass Line decision starts with a new come-out roll.

Example 1: the Pass Line resolves on the come-out roll

1. Initial state: No point is established, and a one-unit Pass Line wager is active.
2. Roll: The two dice total 11.
3. Rule applied: A come-out total of 11 is an immediate Pass Line win under the common standard rules.
4. Result: The Pass Line produces one unit of net winnings at even money. The original wager is also returned.
5. What happens next: No point was established. A later Pass Line decision begins with a new come-out roll.

This result does not make 11, 7 or any other total more or less likely on the next fair roll. Each roll begins with the same two-dice probability distribution.

Example 2: a point is established and repeated

1. Initial state: A one-unit Pass Line wager is active, and no point has been established.
2. Come-out roll: The dice total 6. Six becomes the point; the Pass Line does not yet win or lose.
3. Optional odds: For illustration, the player adds five odds units behind the active Pass Line wager. This supplemental wager is optional, and the table may impose a different maximum.
4. Intervening roll: The dice total 9. Nine is neither the active point nor 7, so neither wager resolves.
5. Final roll: The dice total 6 again. The point has repeated before 7.
6. Result: Both the Pass Line and its attached odds wager win.

The example produces seven units of net winnings in total: one from the Pass Line and six from the odds wager. The components remain separate because they have different expected-value characteristics. The odds portion has a 0% standalone house edge when paid at true odds; the underlying Pass Line still has an expected cost.

Pass Line probability and house edge under the stated rules

The calculation below applies to an even-money Pass Line wager that wins on a come-out 7 or 11, loses on 2, 3 or 12, and establishes 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 as the point. Once a point exists, the wager wins if that point repeats before 7 and loses if 7 appears first.

How the resolved win probability is derived

One roll of two fair six-sided dice has 36 ordered outcomes. Seven has 6 ways, 11 has 2, 2 has 1, 3 has 2 and 12 has 1. The point totals have 3 ways for 4 or 10, 4 ways for 5 or 9, and 5 ways for 6 or 8.

Once a point is active, rolls other than the point or 7 can be set aside when calculating which appears first. The conditional probability is therefore the number of ways to roll the point divided by the combined ways to roll the point or 7.

The immediate win and all six point branches combine to a player win probability of 244/495, approximately 49.293%.

Direct check of the loss probability

The direct loss calculation produces 251/495, approximately 50.707%. It also checks the result because 244/495 + 251/495 = 1.

Why the denominator is 495 rather than 36

The denominator 36 describes one roll. A Pass Line decision can continue across several rolls after a point is established. The denominator 495 is a common denominator for the final multi-roll resolution probabilities; it is not a claim that one roll has 495 outcomes.

This percentage is not the chance of losing one round. The chance of a resolved Pass Line loss is 251/495, while house edge measures the long-run expected loss relative to the specified initial wager.

For more detail on outcome counts and expected value, read Dice Probabilities, Expected Value and House Edge.

Why true odds can have a 0% standalone edge without making the whole wager free

An odds wager is supplemental. Under the analyzed game, it can be placed only after a point has been established and while an underlying Pass Line or another eligible contract wager remains active. It is not a standalone entry wager.

These payouts match the mathematical odds against making the point before 7. The odds portion therefore has a standalone house edge of 0% under this payout schedule.

Maximum odds and payout procedures can differ by table. Verify both the ratio and whether posted wording describes net winnings or a total return. The dice-game paytable guide explains how to check that wording.

Other craps wagers do not share one universal house edge

The 7/495 figure applies only to the specified Pass Line wager under the stated common standard rules. Other craps wagers can have different winning conditions, payouts, commissions, push rules and calculation denominators.

Do not apply the Pass Line percentage to the entire craps table. Inspect each wager’s posted paytable and rules separately. For a practical checklist, see How to Read Dice-Game Paytables.

Craps and the older game of Hazard

Hazard is an older two-dice game associated with “main” and “chance” numbers and is commonly described as an ancestor of modern craps. Published Hazard rulesets vary, however, so this historical relationship should not be treated as proof of one uninterrupted or universally standardized set of rules.

Read the source-based Hazard rules and history guide for a named reconstruction and a clearer separation between documented evidence, variant rules and origin claims.

Previous rolls do not make a number due

Assuming fair dice and unchanged conditions, each roll is independent. A long absence of 7, the point or any other total does not make that result more likely on the next roll.

The belief that independent outcomes must soon balance themselves is the gambler’s fallacy. No betting system changes the underlying dice probabilities or removes the house edge attached to a wager with negative expected value.

Ruleset, calculation method and sources checked

This guide is based on desk research and reproducible probability calculations. It does not claim hands-on casino testing or a universal ruleset for every venue.

Scope

The common standard Pass Line decision and an optional attached true-odds wager.

Named ruleset

Come-out 7 or 11 wins; 2, 3 or 12 loses; 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 establishes the point; the point must repeat before 7.

Paytable assumptions

Pass Line pays 1:1. True odds pay 2:1 on 4 or 10, 3:2 on 5 or 9, and 6:5 on 6 or 8.

Calculation method

Count the immediate come-out results, then multiply each point’s come-out probability by the conditional probability that the point appears before 7.

Denominator explanation

There are 36 ordered outcomes per roll. The denominator 495 is a common denominator for final multi-roll Pass Line resolution probabilities, not a count of single-roll outcomes.

Primary specialist source

Wizard of Odds, “Craps Basics”, identified for the standard rules, Pass Line edge, true-odds payouts and combined-wager explanation.

Secondary calculation check

The page independently derives 244/495 and 251/495 from the two-dice outcome counts, confirms that the probabilities sum to 1, and reproduces the expected value as negative 7/495.

Verification status

Dated source verification remains required before publication. No verification date was available to establish without inventing an editorial fact.

Correction history

No corrections recorded.

Review the site’s calculation, sourcing and correction methodology. To report a mathematical, historical, accessibility or sourcing issue, use the editorial contact instructions on the About page and include the page title, affected passage, proposed correction and supporting source.

Continue learning about craps rules and dice probability

• Crapless Craps rules and comparison

  See how changing the come-out outcomes and point numbers changes the Pass wager.

• Dice probabilities, expected value and house edge

  Study ordered outcomes, independent rolls and the difference between win probability and expected loss.

• How to read dice-game paytables

  Learn to check net payouts, total returns, commissions, pushes and rule exceptions.

• Compare casino, social and historical dice games

  Compare craps with Sic Bo and other games by format, dice count, complexity and rule variability.