Should You Place a Put Bet After the Come Out Roll in Craps?

2 March 2013

By Jerry Stickman

Dear Stickman,

If a point has been established, is it still possible to put a wager on the pass or don't pass line? It seems to me that this would be a great move on the player’s part. Why haven't other players thought of this?

What do you say about my strategy?

Yours,
Lucky 8

Dear Lucky 8,
If a point has been established you cannot put a wager on the pass or don't pass line. The pass and don’t pass bets are only available when no point is established.

As you may be aware, the pass and don’t pass bets are among the best bets on a craps table with a house edge of only about 1.4 percent. Compare this to place bets. Placing the 6 or 8 carries a house edge of about 1.5 percent. Placing the 5 or 9 gives the house a four percent edge and placing the 4 or 10 gives the house a whopping 6.7 percent edge.

When a point is established you can bet the come or don't come. They act exactly like a pass/don't pass bet at that point of the game. They also carry the same low 1.4 percent house edge.

Some casinos allow players to “put” a pass and come at any time. They allow "put bets" because such a bet is a bad one for the player unless backed by five times (5X) odds. The reason for the high house edge on a "put bet" is because it eliminates the 2-1 player edge on a come-out decision.

The player wins on a come-out 7 or 11 and loses on a 2, 3, or 12. There are six ways to make a 7 and two ways to make an 11 for total of eight ways to win. There is one way to make a 2 or 12 and two ways to make a 3 for a total of four ways to lose. That makes 8 ways to win and 4 ways to lose – a 2-1 player edge. Once the point is established, the edge swings dramatically back to the house.

A "put bet" is nothing but a bet without a shot at winning the come-out cycle, so stay away from it.

If you want to make a bet after the point is established, the come or don’t come bets are the way to go.

May all your wins be swift and large and all your losses slow and tiny.

Jerry “Stickman”


Jerry “Stickman” is an expert in craps, blackjack, video poker and advantage slot machine play. He is a regular contributor to top gaming magazines. The “Stickman” has a new book coming out in May 2013, "Everything Casino Poker." For more information call 1-800-944-0406. You can contact Jerry “Stickman” at stickmanGTC@aol.com