Betting on Craps

Craps is another popular casino game that involves throwing two dice and noting the total. A person can place several bets, and we discuss the probabilities of one such type – the pass bets. But before we get to the rules, look at how the totals distribute.

From the picture, you can estimate the probability of each sum as the ratio between the number of occurrences of that number with the total number, i.e., 36. The following picture can help count those possibilities to build the table below.

Dice
Roll
Probability%
21/362.78
32/365.56
43/368.33
54/3611.11
65/3613.89
76/3616.67
85/3613.89
94/3611.11
103/368.33
112/365.56
121/362.78

Pass line bet

The rules for the pass-line bet are:
1) The player throws the dice and wins at once if the total for the first throw is 7 or 11.
2) The player loses if the outcome is 2, 3 or 12.
3) The throws 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 is called a point.
4) If the first throw is a point, it is repeated until the same number (the point) comes back (player wins) or 7 (player loses).

Now, what are the chances for the player to win a pass-line bet? That is next.