The Come Bet: How to Play It in Craps

A come bet is a pass line bet you make after a point has already been established. You put your chips in the come box, the big rectangular area on the layout marked "Come," one of the largest single boxes on the table. The only thing that makes it different from a pass line bet is when you make it: a pass line bet goes down before the come out, when the puck is off, while a come bet goes down after, when the puck is on. The two are mirror images separated only by timing. The initial bet is self-service; after the next roll, the dealer takes over and moves the chips for you.

Here's the part that takes a minute. The come bet treats the very next roll as its own personal come out roll. When you drop chips in the come box, you're setting up your own private come out, separate from the main round. The next roll happens, and three things can happen.

• 7 or 11: your come bet wins immediately at even money. This is true even if that 7 sevens out the main pass line bet. For the come bet, this was its come out roll, and 7 is a come out winner. So the pass line can lose to the 7 while the come bet wins. Same dice, two results.
• 2, 3 or 12: your come bet loses, just like a craps roll on a pass line bet. The dealer sweeps the chips.
• 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10: that number becomes the come bet's point. The dealer moves your chips from the come box to the matching place number box, in a spot that corresponds to where you're standing. From here it works just like a pass line bet on a point: you win if your number comes up before a 7, and lose if a 7 comes first.

Look at what just happened. You started with a pass line bet, the shooter set a point, and now you have a second bet running on a different number. Both sit on the table at once, both pay even money, both can take free odds. If the shooter rolls a number that's neither your come number nor a 7, both bets just sit there. If they roll your come number, the come bet wins and the pass line stays. If they roll the pass line point, the pass line wins and the come bet stays. If they roll a 7, both lose.

So you've turned one bet into two, with two chances to win on every roll. Add a third come bet and you have three numbers working. This is the multi-bet structure experienced craps players use: every one of those bets has the same low house edge as the pass line, around 1.41 percent before odds and well under 1 percent after. You're scaling your action without scaling your edge.

Every come bet, once it has established a number, can take free odds just like a pass line bet. Same math, same payouts, still zero house edge, all covered in the free odds article. The mechanics differ slightly: with come bet odds, you hand the chips to the dealer and say you want odds, and they set them on top of your come bet in the place number box, slightly offset.

You also have a choice you don't have with pass line odds. By default, come bet odds are off for the come out roll of the next round, going inactive when the puck flips off and reactivating when a new point is set. If you want them working on the come out, tell the dealer "odds working." Most players let the default ride. The reason for the default is that come bets sit in the place number boxes alongside place bets, which are off on the come out by default, so the casino applies the same logic.

The math is identical to the pass line: a house edge of about 1.41 percent, the same probability structure, the same payouts. The only difference is the timing of when you make the bet. Some players assume come bets must be different because they look different on the table, but a come bet is just a pass line bet on a delay.

What does change is the variance of your overall play. With one bet on the line and one on a come number, you're exposed to more outcomes per roll. The amount of money in action goes up, but the expected value per dollar stays the same. For most players that's exactly what they want: more action at the same low edge.

Here's the one thing about come bets that takes getting used to. When the shooter sevens out, you lose every come bet sitting on the place numbers, plus your pass line bet, plus all your odds. Everything goes at once. If you've been stacking come bets, this can be a big loss in a single roll. Pass line and odds plus three come bets and their odds can add up to hundreds of dollars, and one 7 takes all of it. This is why you don't want too many come bets at once; two or three numbers is plenty.

The other version is when a fresh come bet wins to the 7 while all your previous come bets lose. The new bet wins because the 7 is its come out winner, but the bets already on the table lose because the 7 is a seven out for them. It looks strange the first time. Some players use this deliberately, keeping a fresh come bet on the box at all times so any 7 wins them at least one bet, a kind of hedge. The math doesn't really change, but it can soften the blow of a 7 sweeping the table.

Here's how most experienced players do it. You start with a $10 pass line bet. The shooter rolls a 6, setting the point, and you take $50 in odds behind it. The shooter throws a 9, so you drop $10 in the come box, the dealer moves it to the 9, and you hand over $40 for odds. Now you have the 6 and the 9 both working with full odds, $110 total exposure.

The shooter throws a 4. You drop another $10 in the come box, the dealer moves it to the 4, and you add $30 in odds. Now you have three numbers working with full odds, $150 total, at a combined edge well under 1 percent. From here you stop adding come bets and let the round play out. Three numbers is a comfortable spot: out of 36 combinations, three point numbers cover anywhere from 9 to 13 of them, roughly a 30 to 40 percent chance of winning on any given roll against a 17 percent chance of losing everything to the 7. Those are decent numbers.

Why bother with come bets when you can just place numbers directly? The main difference is the math. Come bets have a lower house edge than place bets on every number except the 6 and 8, where the difference is tiny. Come bets benefit from the same come-out-roll-favors-the-bettor structure as the pass line, with 7 and 11 winners on the come out boosting the math.

Place bets have no come out advantage; they live and die strictly on whether your number hits before a 7, so their edge is higher: 1.52 percent on the 6 and 8, 4.0 percent on the 5 and 9, and 6.67 percent on the 4 and 10. Come bets are 1.41 percent on every number, and they can take free odds while place bets can't. The downside of come bets is that you don't choose your number; the next roll decides it, whereas place bets let you pick the friendly 6 and 8 directly. Some players prefer the control, some prefer the math. More in the place bets article.

• Don't place a come bet right before a come out roll. If the round resolves on the next roll, your come bet ends up in a weird state. Wait until a fresh point is established, then start come betting.
• Don't stack too many come bets. Three numbers is plenty, four is the maximum I'd suggest. Beyond that, a 7 wipes out a serious chunk of your bankroll in one roll.
• Don't skip odds on come bets. Same rule as the pass line. Without them you're leaving money on the table.
• Don't get confused by the 7 paying come bets while losing everything else. The same roll wins one bet and loses three. The math is consistent; get used to it.
• Don't scale beyond what your bankroll can stand. Pass line plus odds plus three come bets plus odds is a meaningful amount in action, and a 7 takes all of it.

Come bets are how serious players turn one bet into multiple bets without giving up the math. They have the same low house edge as the pass line, the same option to take free odds, and they let you have action on multiple numbers at once. If you're comfortable with the pass line and free odds, the come bet is the next layer: add one, get used to two numbers working, then add a second for three. That's plenty for most players. The next article covers the don't come bet, the don't pass version of this same idea.