Understanding Craps Part 2

Now that you know what the pass line bet is and how to place one, you can take a look at its companions, starting with its opposite, the don't pass bet.

The Don't Pass bet
If you're in a land based casino and having a good time at the craps table, maybe making a few new friends, then you probably shouldn't bet on the don't pass bet. Essentially it's like betting against the shooter or against the dice, which means you win when everybody else loses. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but you want to keep those new friends don't you? You want to be invited to the next party no? Craps is a party game in a casino, filled with good vibes, my well learned advice is not to disrupt those vibes. Vibes may have nothing at all to do with mathematics, but they are no less important.

To make this bet place your chips in the narrower section just beyond the pass line with the words 'don't pass' on it. If you place a don't pass bet on the come out roll, you lose on a 7 or 11, and win on a 2 or a 3. A 12 on the come out roll is like a push in blackjack, it's a standoff where nobody wins or loses. If anything else is rolled that number becomes the 'point', and you win if a 7 is rolled before the point is repeated. Notice how this is the opposite of the pass line bet, and notice how you win when the shooter loses. Seems awfully nice of the casino to offer an opposite bet of the normal one, wouldn't the house lose their statistical edge? Only if they kept the numbers straight. Sadly on a don't pass bet with odds, the casino pays out pretty crappy amounts. The odds of a 7 coming out before a 10 are quite good so the casino has to hedge its bet.

The Come Bet
You'll quickly notice the large area of the craps board labeled with 'COME' smack dab in the middle of the playing area. Make sure you have read the section on the Pass bet in our craps rules section and earlier in this section, if you know all there is to know about the Pass line bet, then you wont have any trouble getting your head around the simple 'COME' bet. The easiest way to think about the COME bet is to think, it's exactly the same as the Pass line bet, but can be made after the point is set. There is no such thing as a come bet on the come out roll, because it would be exactly the same as a Pass line bet.
Say I wanted to make a come bet, and the point had been set to 5. I would put my come bet down in the come section and wait for the next roll. If a 7 or 11 is hit you win (while the shooter looses), and you lose on a craps shot (2, 3 or 12). If it's any one of the other numbers, this becomes your 'come point'. If your 'come point' is rolled before a 7, you win. So say a 9 is rolled, at that time the stickman moves your come bet to the 9 on the board. Now if the shooter rolls a 9 before a 7 you win, if they roll a 7 before a 9 you lose. Also remember that on come bets you also have the ability to place "odds" bets just like pass line bets after your 'come-point' is established.

The Don't Come Bet
The don't come bet is, you guessed it, the opposite of the come bet, much in the same way the don't pass bet is the opposite of the pass bet. The don't come bet must be made after a point is set by the shooter. If a 7 or 11 is rolled you lose, if a 2 or 3 is rolled you win, and a 12 is a standoff. Otherwise a come point is set and you win if a 7 is rolled before the come point is repeated, and lose if the come point is repeated before a 7 is rolled.
Once again the odds are in your favor that a seven would be rolled before a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 so the odds bets pay the opposite of a pass line odds bet.