The Pass Line Bet — Complete Guide

The Pass Line bet has a 1.41% house edge — one of the best in any casino. Full rules, odds breakdown, strategy tips, and a live 50,000-roll simulation.

1.41%House Edge
1:1Payout
49.3%Win Rate
50kRolls Simulated

What Is the Pass Line Bet?

The Pass Line bet is the bread-and-butter of craps — the first bet every beginner learns and the one most experienced players make every single round. It's simple, it has one of the lowest house edges in any casino, and it puts you with the rest of the table.

📜 Casino LoreThe Pass Line is the oldest surviving bet in American gambling. Craps traces its roots to the English street game Hazard, brought to New Orleans in the early 1800s by French Creole settlers who'd picked it up from British sailors. The "right bettor" — someone betting the shooter would win — was considered the honest way to play. Early American casino operators added the Don't Pass specifically to give the house a built-in edge against sharp players who'd found flaws in the original Hazard layout. The "Bar 12" push printed on every craps table is that same 200-year-old compromise, unchanged to this day.

How It Works

The Pass Line plays out in two phases. Before the come-out roll, place your chips in the Pass Line area. Then:

Come-Out Roll: Roll 7 or 11 → instant win (1:1). Roll 2, 3, or 12 → instant loss. Roll anything else (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) → that number becomes the point.

Point Phase: The shooter keeps rolling. Hit the point again before a 7 → you win. Roll a 7 first → seven-out, you lose. Once a point is set, your Pass Line bet is locked in — you can't remove it.

The come-out roll actually favors the player: 8 ways to win (7 or 11) vs only 4 ways to lose (2, 3, 12). The house gets its edge in the point phase where the 7 can strike at any time.

50,000-Roll Simulation

Run the simulation below to see how the Pass Line Bet performs across 50,000 dice rolls. Every run uses a fresh random seed — notice how individual sessions vary due to variance, while the long-run trend converges toward the theoretical house edge of 1.41%.

🎲 Pass Line Simulator
$10 flat bet · Monte Carlo · 50,000 rolls per run
Rolls
Decisions
Win Rate
Final P&L
Eff. Edge
Max Drawdown
Profit
Loss
Expected
Prior runs
Hit Run Once to simulate 50,000 rolls of Pass Line betting.

Strategy & Tips

The single best move with a Pass Line bet is backing it with Free Odds after the point is set. Free Odds pays true mathematical odds with zero house edge — it's the only such bet in the casino. With 3-4-5x Odds, your combined house edge drops from 1.41% to just 0.37%.

Keep your flat Pass Line bet at the table minimum so you can load up on Odds. A $5 Pass Line with $25 in Odds is far better than a $25 Pass Line with no Odds.

Once you're comfortable, graduate to the 3-Point Molly — Pass Line plus two Come bets, all backed with max Odds. Three numbers working at all times at 0.37% combined edge.

How It Compares

BetHouse EdgePayoutNotes
Pass Line Bet1.41%This page
Pass Line + Max Odds0.37%VariesLowest combined edge
Don't Pass + Lay Odds0.27%VariesLowest edge overall
Pass Line1.41%1:1Best flat bet
Place 6 or 81.52%7:6Best place bet
Field Bet2.78–5.56%1:1/2:1High action
Any 716.67%4:1Avoid

FAQ

What is the house edge on the Pass Line?
1.41% — one of the lowest in any casino game. Back it with max Free Odds and the combined edge drops to 0.37%.
Can I remove a Pass Line bet after the point is set?
No. The bet is locked once a point is established. The come-out roll favors the player, so casinos won't allow removal after that phase.
What's the best point number?
6 or 8 — 5 ways to roll each vs 6 ways to roll a 7, giving you a 45.5% chance of making the point.
Is Pass Line better than Don't Pass?
Don't Pass has a marginally lower edge (1.36% vs 1.41%) — the difference is about $0.05 per $100 wagered. Most players choose Pass Line for the social experience.

🎲 Try It Free on InfiniteCraps

Practice the Pass Line Bet on a live shared table. No signup, no download. $500 starting bankroll.

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