Obscure Craps Bets

Know your Bets in Craps

Craps is one of the easiest and most popular online casino games. Craps developed in the United States as a simplification of the European game of Hazard. Craps was one of the first games to be featured at land-based casinos. It made the transition to the online casino as soon as casino gambling became available to PC users.

Today, craps aficionados enjoy the basic, traditional game of craps but at many casinos they have the option to make any of a number of obscure bets. Some of those lesser-known bets include:

Ride the Line Bets

Ride the Line is a fairly simple side bet. Bettors place their wager and then try to achieve the highest number of pass line wins possible before a seven-out.

The guidelines for the Ride the Line Bet:

  1. Bets are placed prior to a new shooter’s first throw
  2. Wagers win based on the number of pass line wins the shooter achieves before he rolls a seven-out.
  3. Wins occur if:  1. The come-out roll results in either a seven or eleven or 2. If the roller gets a point and rolls it again before a seven
  4. Ride the Line wagers are paid according to the total number of pass line wins AND the casino’s pay table when the shooter rolls a seven out.

Seven pay tables are available for the Ride the Line Bet.

Fire Bet

The Fire Bet pays if the shooter achieves at least four different points on the pass line before he sevens out. The numbers must vary – if the shooter makes four numbers in a row, but 2 or more of them are the same number, the identical numbers would count only as 1 number.  In a common Fire Bet pay table, achieving four of that point pays 24-1, achieving five is a 249-1 payout and if the shooter makes all six pays the payout is 999-1.

The guidelines for the Fire Bet:

  1. Put your chip or chips on the layout for the comeout roll. Declare that you want the Fire Bet (Fire Bets aren’t available at all casinos so check your casino beforehand to find out if you can use that bet).
  2. If there’s a comeout win on 7 or 11 or a comeout loss on 2, 3 or 12, the Fire Bet won’t be affected. Up until this point you can still take your Fire Bet down. The Fire Bet is set once the shooter establishes his first point.
  3. If the shooter makes a point, the number is covered with a Fire Disk. Then the play moves on to another comeout. 
  4. If the player goes on to establish a different point number and achieves it, a Fire Disk is also put on that number. If the shooter makes additional points, the same procedure follows.
  5. If the shooter makes a point that he’s already made, no additional Fire Disks are placed on the layout.
  6. The shooter loses his Fire Bet if he sevens out with zero, one, two or three Fire Disk coverings make points.
  7. The shooter is paid according to the pay table if he makes all six points without sevening out or if he sevens out with four or five Fire Disks on the layout.

Low Dice, High Dice

In a Low Dice, High Dice bet, the total of the dice in one throw determines the win. The "Low Dice" bet pays  5 to 1 on a total of 2 and 1 to 1 on totals of 3 to 6. The "High Dice" pays 5 to 1 on a total of 12 and 1 to 1 on totals of 8 to 11. The house edge is 5.56% on both the Low Dice and the High Dice bets.

Card Craps

Card Craps bets are generally seen in jurisdictions such as California where the dice alone is not enough to determine the outcome of a bet. 24-card decks are used in Card Craps, each of which ranks ace to six in all four suits. To play, two cards are drawn in simulation of the roll of the dice. The roll “stands” if the suits are different. However, if the suits are the same, the roll is ignored for all craps bets. The odds are the same on all craps bets as if dice were used.

There’s also another bet which is the "No Call" bet.  The No Call Bet pays 3 to 1 if the two cards are suited. If they aren’t suited, the bet doesn’t succeed. The house edge depends on the number of 24-card decks used. 

Some other craps bets that aren’t well known include the Golden Dice Challenge, the Twice as Nice Bet, the Point 7 and 7 Point 7 Bets, Double D, Pete and Repeat, Broad Bar 12, Hot Roller, Under 7 Over 7 and Hard Way Place Bets.