Another strategy for live craps action involves the Don’t Pass and Don’t Come bets. It puts the player in the opposition to the masses, as it could bring you a hefty payout while everyone else is losing. This is a preferred betting strategy while gaming online, as it is a lucrative one. When craps players bet against the shooter in a casino table, the most common strategy is to play don’t pass and don’t come. Backing those bets by laying the free odds cuts the house edge to the bone for “Dark Side” or “wrong bettor” – as the majority who bet with the shooter refer to don’t players.

• Craps Don't Pass Don't Come Strategy Go
• Craps Don't Pass Don't Come Strategy Tactics
• Craps Don't Pass Don't Come Strategy Games
• Craps Don't Pass Don't Come Strategy Against

You don’t have to know how the top six bets work to make them. But you’ll certainly want to know how they win and lose just for the sake of understanding craps.

Here’s a closer look at what you must know about pass line, don’t pass line, come, don’t come, Place 6, and Place 8.

Craps Don't Pass Don't Come Strategy Go

The pass line bet is made on the “come out” roll, or the first roll by a new shooter. This wager wins if a 7 or 11 is tossed on the come out, and it loses when a 2, 3, or 12 is rolled.

Any other number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) establishes a point. Pass line bettors want the point number to be rolled before a 7 in order to win.

Pass line pays 1:1, and it has 251:244 odds of winning.

Craps Don't Pass Don't Come Strategy Tactics

The don’t pass line bet is made on the come out roll. It wins when a 2 or 3 is tossed on the come out, loses when a 7 or 11 is rolled, and pushes when a 12 is rolled.

Any other number becomes the point. Don’t pass line bettors need a 7 to be rolled before the point to win.

Don’t pass line pays 1:1 for a win and features 976:949 true odds.

The come bet has the same rules as pass line with regard to how it wins and loses. The only difference is that you can’t make a come wager until a point has been established.

Your come out roll becomes the shooter’s first roll after the point has been determined.

You win with a 2 or 3 on the come out, and lose with a 2, 3, or 12. When a point is established, you need the point number to be rolled before a 7.

A don’t come bet has the same rules as don’t pass line. But like the come bet, you can only place this wager after a point is established.

You win with a 2 or 3 on the come out, lose with a 7 or 11, and push with a 12. During the point rolls, you need a 7 to come up before the point number.

Place 6 and Place 8 are the two best prop bets in craps.

With Place 6, you need a 6 to be rolled before a 7 to win this bet. Place 6 pays 7:6 and has 6:5 true odds.

With Place 8, you need an 8 to be rolled before a 7. Place 8 is just like Place 6 in that it pays 7:6 for a win and has 6:5 true odds.

Don’t pass line and don’t come bets have the lowest house edges at 1.36%. This means that you should theoretically make these wagers every time because they give you the best chance to win.

Interestingly enough, though, many players instead make pass line and come bets in land-based casinos. But why?

Players traditionally like pass line and come wagers because they’re betting with the shooter. In contrast, don’t pass line and don’t come bets see you rooting for the shooter to lose.

Many craps players like following tradition because it creates a team-like atmosphere. And this camaraderie adds something to the game because players cheer together when their pass line betswin.

Of course, nothing is stopping you from making don’t bets. And other players won’t be waiting in the parking lot for you afterward if you do.

But I personally think that it’s worth sacrificing the extra 0.05% on the house edge in order to experience the camaraderie.

The one time that you do want to make don’t pass line and don’t come wagers, though, is when you’re playing online. You’re not at the table with anybody else in an online game, and it does nogood to make pass line and come bets, since they have a slightly higher house edge.

The Don’t Come bet in Craps is one of the most mathematically sound bets, along with the Don’t Pass line. In fact, they have exactly the same odds mathematically because they are basically the same bet. The only difference between Don’t Pass and Don’t Come is that Don’t Come is played after a point has been established.

To bet on the Don’t Come line, you have to be in the point stage of Craps, after the come out roll is done. You place your bet, and then the next roll counts as the come out roll for your bet. That means you can win or lose instantly. Just as with the Don’t Pass bet, if the next roll is a 2 or a 3, you win. If it’s a 7 or an 11 you lose. If it’s a 12, you push.

If it is any other roll, you advance in exactly the same way as if a point had been established on a come out roll if you were betting on Don’t Pass. At this point the dealer will move your bet out of the Don’t Come area and into the square for that number. The point has now been established for your bet. If the shooter rolls a seven before they roll the number that was rolled after your Don’t Come bet, you win.

The Don’t Come bet pays even money, just like the Don’t Pass, and the Pass and Come for that matter.

Craps Don't Pass Don't Come Strategy Games

Just as with a Don’t Pass bet, you are hoping for the shooter to roll a seven most of the time. This is going to be the opposite to what most players at the table are hoping for. You will win when they lose, which is why psychologically the Don’t Come isn’t a very enticing bet.
Mathematically, however, it’s an extremely enticing bet. The house edge is only 1.4%, making it, along with the Don’t Pass bet, the wisest bet in craps. If you’re at the casino to make money rather than to make friends, then Don’t bets are what you should play.

This is opposed to 1.41% house edge for the Come and Pass bets. That 0.01% difference might not seem like a lot, and if you don’t play much Craps it won’t be significant, but if you are planning on making Craps a regular hobby then eventually it will make a difference to your win rate. Any wise gambler will narrow the house edge as much as he or she possibly can, and that’s why you’ll see the shrewdest customers at the casino playing the Don’t Come and Don’t Pass bet, and why only the most foolhardy gamblers will play the big red 7, which has a staggering 16.67% edge for the house.

Craps Don't Pass Don't Come Strategy Against

Strategically it’s wise to also lay odds after your Don’t Come bet. You should be laying as much as you can afford. Of course because you are laying odds rather than taking them you will need to bet more to win less (so you should make sure that you have an adequately sized bankroll), but the edge is exactly the same. When you win with your odds bet you will be paid at the true odds, minus a commission of about 5% depending on the casino.