What this dossier covers
- The ways table for two dice, and how all 36 outcomes generate every number in the game
- The pass line resolved to its exact closed form — 244/495 to win, 7/495 to the house
- Why the free odds bet pays true odds on every point and carries an expected value of exactly zero
- The complete bet-by-bet edge table, sorted from the pass line with odds to the 16.67% Any 7
- What changes when the felt changes — field paytables, Buy commission timing, and don't-pass pushes
Download the dossier
Free, no sign-up. 2026 edition · Week 30. Every figure inside carries its rule premise.
About this reference
This dossier condenses material developed at length in First Principles, the encyclopedia's derivation section, into a printable reference you can keep. As with everything on BetCanon, the figures are mathematically derived and each is presented with the rule set it assumes — because a table-game number without its premise is not a fact, only a rumour.
Basic strategy, house-edge tables and probability figures reduce the average cost of play; they do not remove it. Every casino table bet retains a positive house edge against the player, and any single session can swing far from its expectation — see variance and standard deviation for why.
Frequently asked
What is the cheapest bet on a craps table?
The pass line or come bet backed by maximum free odds. The line bet itself carries an exact house edge of 7/495, about 1.41%. The odds wager behind it pays true odds and carries no edge at all, so at 3-4-5x odds the blended cost falls to roughly 0.374% of the total staked — the lowest figure available on any casino table game.
Does the free odds bet really have a zero house edge?
Yes, exactly zero, and the dossier derives it on all three point pairs. On a point of 4 there are three ways to make it against six ways to seven out — true odds of 2 to 1 — and the bet pays 2 to 1. Payout matches probability precisely. The catch is structural rather than mathematical: odds may only be placed behind a line bet that does carry an edge.
So does taking odds lower my house edge?
Not in the way the phrase suggests. Your line bet keeps its 1.41% regardless. Odds add money at genuinely zero cost, which enlarges the denominator and pulls the blended percentage down — but your expected loss in dollars is unchanged, and the size of your swings increases. The dossier spells out this distinction because it is the most commonly misread number in the game.
Are these edge figures exact or estimates?
Exact. Craps is derived entirely from the 36 equally likely outcomes of two dice, so every figure in the table is a closed-form value at the stated payout — not a simulation result. Where a payout varies between properties, such as a field paying 2:1 rather than 3:1 on the 12, both figures are given with their premise.
Is this dossier a betting system?
No. It prices bets; it does not beat them. Every wager listed except the free odds carries a positive house edge against the player, and the free odds can only be placed alongside one that does. Choosing lower-edge bets reduces the average cost of play and never removes it. This is a mathematical reference, not gambling advice.