Crapless Craps
Crapless craps changes one rule and sells it well: the pass line can no longer lose on the come-out roll. A 2, 3 or 12, which would end a standard round with a loss, becomes a point instead. So does the 11, which on a standard table is an instant win. The only come-out roll that settles the bet is the 7.
The trade looks generous until you price it. The four new points are the hardest numbers on the table to repeat, and the 11 that used to win on the spot now has to be rolled again before a 7. The pass line on a crapless table costs 5.38% per bet, 3.8061 times the 1.41% of a standard one.
The standard game's rules are on how to play craps, and every standard bet is priced on the craps odds page. This page covers what the crapless rule changes.
What Changes on the Come-Out
Every other total (4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10) sets a point on both tables, and the round then plays out the same way: the point before a 7 wins, a 7 first loses.
The Real Cost
The crapless round lasts 0.7857 rolls longer on average, which softens the per-roll figure a little. It does not come close to closing the gap: per roll as well as per bet, the crapless pass line is far more expensive.
Where the Cost Comes From
On a standard table the come-out favours the pass line: the 7 and 11 win, and they come up more often than the 2, 3 and 12 that lose. Crapless removes both halves of that. The losing totals no longer lose straight away, but they do not win either — they become points that are very hard to make. A point of 2 or 12 is made before a 7 only 14.29% of the time, a point of 3 or 11 only 25.00%.
The 11 is the bigger loss. On a standard table it wins immediately; here it becomes a point that is made before a 7 only 25.00% of the time. Players tend to notice the craps numbers they are spared and not the natural they gave up.
Odds on the New Points
The odds bet is still paid at true odds and still carries no house edge. What it cannot do is lower the cost of the pass line under it.
Pass Line With Odds: Crapless Against Standard
Per round, with the stated odds taken on every point. At every multiple the crapless table costs more. With 3x odds on every point, a crapless table comes to 1.54%; the standard table's usual 3-4-5x comes to 0.37%.
Place Bets on 2, 3, 11 and 12
The new place bets sit among the more expensive multi-roll bets on the layout, beside placing the 4 or 10. The place bets on 4 through 10 are priced as on a standard table.
No Don't Pass
A crapless table has no don't pass or don't come. On a standard table the don't side is the slightly cheaper one; here it would be the favoured side by a wide margin, since every come-out except the 7 turns into a point the don't bettor usually wins. Without a don't bar to push on, there is no way to price it, so the bet is simply removed.
Is Crapless Craps Worth Playing?
On price, no: at every level of odds shown above, the same bets cost more on a crapless table than on a standard one. The flat pass line costs 5.38% per round whatever odds you add behind it, and the odds only spread that cost over more money.
The case for it is taste. Rounds are longer, there are more points to root for, and some players enjoy never losing a line bet on the come-out. If that is worth the price to you, take the largest odds you can afford, since that is the only way to bring the combined figure down, and leave the new place bets alone. If the goal is the cheapest game, choose a standard table; the craps strategy page covers how to play one.
Crapless Craps FAQs
Not for the player. The pass line costs 5.38% per bet on a crapless table against 1.41% on a standard one, and the gap holds at every level of odds.
No. The only total that settles a pass line bet on the come-out is the 7, and it wins. That is the rule the game is named for, and it is paid for by turning the 11 into a point and the craps numbers into points that are hard to make.
6:1, the true odds, and 3:1 on a point of 3 or 11. The odds bet carries no house edge on a crapless table either.
Because with no craps numbers on the come-out, a bet against the shooter would be the favourite. Tables drop it rather than reprice it.