The Come Bet - How To Play The Come Bet In Craps
The come bet is one of those things in craps that sounds complicated until somebody explains it, and then it sounds completely obvious. It is just a pass line bet you can make in the middle of a round. That is it. Once you have read the pass line article, you have already learned 95 percent of what you need to know about come bets. The other 5 percent is just the timing.
So why is this a separate bet at all? Because the pass line bet is locked in to the come out roll. You can only place it before a point is set. Once the puck flips on, you are stuck waiting for the next round to make a fresh pass line bet. The come bet exists to fix that problem. It lets you make the same kind of bet at any point during a round, without waiting for a new come out roll. Once you understand it, you have unlocked the ability to have multiple smart bets running at the same time, all with the option to take free odds on each one.
This is one of the bets serious craps players use to multiply their action without giving up math. It is also one of the bets new players overlook the most because the rules can sound confusing the first time you hear them. Let me walk you through it.
What the come bet is
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, which is the big rectangular area on the layout marked "Come." It is one of the largest single boxes on the table.
The thing that makes a come bet different from a pass line bet is when you make it. A pass line bet has to be placed before the come out roll, when the puck is off. A come bet has to be placed after the come out, when the puck is already on. The two bets are mirror images of each other, separated only by timing.
The come bet is self-service for the initial bet. You drop your own chips in the come box. After the next roll, the dealer takes over and moves the chips for you, depending on what happens. We will get into that part next.
How a come bet works
Here is the part that takes a minute to grasp. The come bet treats the very next roll as its own personal come out roll. So when you drop chips in the come box, you are setting up your own private come out, separate from whatever the main round is doing.
The next roll happens. Three things can happen to your come bet, depending on what number comes up.
If the next roll is a 7 or 11, your come bet wins immediately. The dealer pays you even money on it. This is true even if a 7 would seven out the main pass line bet. Your come bet treats the 7 as a winner because for the come bet, this was its come out roll, and 7 is a come out winner. So you can have a situation where the pass line loses to the 7 but the come bet wins. This is the part that confuses new players. Same dice roll, two different results, depending on which bet you are looking at.
If the next roll is a 2, 3 or 12, your come bet loses. Same deal as a craps roll on a pass line bet. The dealer sweeps the chips out of the come box.
If the next roll is a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, that number becomes the come bet's point. The dealer picks up your chips from the come box and moves them to the corresponding place number box at the top of the table. So if the next roll is an 8, your come bet chips get moved to the 8 box. They sit in a specific spot inside that box that corresponds to where you are standing at the table, so the dealer can keep track of whose bet is whose.
From here, your come bet works just like a pass line bet riding on a point. You win if your number comes up before a 7. You lose if a 7 comes first. The bet stays in the place number box until one of those two things happens.
Why this is so useful
Look at what just happened. You started a round with a pass line bet, the shooter set a point, and now you have a second bet running on a different number. Both bets are sitting on the table at the same time. Both bets pay even money when they win. Both bets can take free odds.
If the shooter rolls a number that is not your come bet number or a 7, both your bets just sit there. Neither wins, neither loses. If the shooter rolls your come bet number, the come bet wins and the pass line stays in play. If the shooter rolls the pass line point, the pass line wins and the come bet stays in play. If the shooter rolls a 7, both bets lose.
So you have effectively turned one bet into two, with two chances to win on every roll. Add a third come bet on the next roll and you have three numbers working. You are getting more action per roll without making any of the bad bets in the middle of the table.
This is the multi-bet structure that experienced craps players use. The pass line gives you one number. Each come bet adds another number. Three or four numbers running at the same time gives you a lot of opportunities to win on any given roll. And every single 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 odds. You are scaling your action without scaling your edge.
Free odds on come bets
Every come bet, once it has established a number, can take free odds just like a pass line bet. The math is the same. The payouts are the same. The bet is still zero house edge. We covered all of this in the free odds article.
The mechanics are slightly different. With pass line odds, you place the chips yourself, in the empty space behind your pass line bet. With come bet odds, you have to hand the chips to the dealer and tell them you want odds on your come bet. They will set the chips on top of your come bet in the place number box, slightly offset so they can be distinguished from the underlying come bet.
You also have a choice with come bet odds that you do not have with pass line odds. By default, come bet odds are turned off for the come out roll of the next round. They become inactive when the puck flips back to off, and they reactivate when a new point is established. If you want them working on the come out, you tell the dealer "odds working" and they will leave them on. Most players let the default ride.
The reason for the default off setting is that come bets sit in the place number boxes alongside place bets, and place bets are off on the come out by default. The casino just applies the same logic to the come bet odds. The flat come bet itself stays on, the odds portion goes off. Tell the dealer if you want it different.
The math on come bets
The math on a come bet is identical to the math on a pass line bet. House edge of about 1.41 percent. Same probability structure. Same payouts. Same everything. The only thing different is the timing of when you make the bet.
This is worth saying explicitly because some players assume come bets must be different mathematically because they look different on the table. They are not. A come bet is just a pass line bet on a delay. The numbers all line up the same way.
What does change with come bets is the variance of your overall play. When you have one bet on the line and one bet on a come number, you are exposed to more outcomes per roll. A roll that would be neutral if you only had a pass line bet might win one of your come bets. A roll that would be neutral might also lose one of your come bets if you took the wrong odds. The amount of money in action goes up. The expected value per dollar stays the same.
For most players, this is what they want. More action at the same low edge. The come bet is the way to get it without crossing into bad-bet territory.
The 7-out problem with come bets
Here is the one thing about come bets that takes some 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 have been stacking up come bets for a while, 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 on the line. One 7 takes all of it.
This is why you do not want to load up too many come bets at once. Two or three numbers working is plenty for most players. Beyond that, you are stacking exposure, and a single 7 wipes you out faster than you might be ready for.
The other version of this is when a fresh come bet wins to the 7 but all your previous come bets lose. So the come bet you just placed wins because the 7 is a come out winner for that bet, but the three come bets already on the table lose because the 7 is a seven out for them. You see this happen and it feels weird, like the dice cannot decide which side to be on. The math is consistent, it just looks strange the first time you see it.
Some players actually use this as a strategy, deliberately keeping a fresh come bet on the come box at all times so that any 7 wins them at least one bet. It is a hedge of sorts. The math does not really change, you are still betting at the same low edge, but it can soften the blow of a 7 sweeping the table.
How to use come bets in practice
The way most experienced players use come bets is something like this.
You start a round with a pass line bet. Say it is $10. The shooter rolls a 6, setting the point. You take $50 in odds behind your pass line, since 6 is the easiest point and the 5x odds at a 3x-4x-5x table is the most odds you can take.
The shooter throws again. The roll is a 9. You drop $10 in the come box. The dealer moves your chips to the 9 box. You hand the dealer another $40 and say "odds." The dealer puts $40 in odds on top of your come bet on the 9.
Now you have $10 plus $50 odds on the 6, and $10 plus $40 odds on the 9. Two numbers working, both with full odds. Total exposure is $110.
The shooter throws again. The roll is a 4. You drop another $10 in the come box. The dealer moves it to the 4 box. You hand them $30 and say odds. They set up your odds on the 4.
Now you have three numbers working with full odds on each. Total exposure is $150 across all three numbers, with a combined house edge well under 1 percent.
From here, you stop adding come bets. You let the round play out. Any of your three numbers, the 6, 9 or 4, hits and you win that bet. Both you and the dealer have to settle the bet that hit, and then you can decide whether to start another come bet to replace it. The 7 ends everything.
Three numbers working is a comfortable spot for most players. You have meaningful action without overcommitting your bankroll. You also have a target the dice are likely to hit. Out of 36 combinations on every roll, three different point numbers cover anywhere from 9 to 13 of them, depending on which numbers you are on. That is roughly a 30 to 40 percent chance of winning on any given roll, with a 17 percent chance of losing everything to the 7. Those are decent numbers.
Come bets vs place bets
One question that comes up a lot. Why bother with come bets when you can just place numbers directly? Place bets, which we cover in the place bets article, also let you bet on a specific number to come up before a 7. They sound similar.
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 small. Come bets benefit from the same come-out-roll-favors-the-bettor structure that the pass line does, with the 7 and 11 winners on the come out boosting the math.
Place bets do not have a come out advantage. They live and die strictly on whether your number hits before a 7. Because of that, they have a higher house edge across the board. The 6 and 8 are 1.52 percent. The 5 and 9 are 4.0 percent. The 4 and 10 are 6.67 percent.
Compare those numbers to come bets, which are 1.41 percent on every number. Come bets win on the math nearly across the board. The exception is the 6 and 8 specifically, where place bets are within a tenth of a percent of come bets. For 5, 9, 4 and 10, come bets are clearly better.
The other advantage of come bets is the free odds option. You can stack 3x to 5x odds behind a come bet, dropping the effective edge well below 1 percent. Place bets cannot take odds. Their edge is what their edge is.
The downside of come bets compared to place bets is that you do not get to choose your number. The come bet establishes whatever number the next roll happens to be. Place bets let you specifically pick the 6 and 8, the friendliest numbers on the table. Some players prefer the control. Some players prefer the math. We get into the trade-off in the place bets article.
How to actually make a come bet
Walking through it step by step.
You have a pass line bet down. The shooter has set a point. The puck is on. You decide you want a second number working, so you take a chip in the amount you want to bet and drop it in the come box on the layout. The come box is the large rectangle right inside the come line, in the middle of the layout.
The next roll happens. If it is a 7 or 11, the dealer pays your come bet even money. Your pass line bet either lost (on the 7) or just sat there (on the 11). You collect your come bet winnings and start over with another come bet on the next roll if you want.
If the next roll is 2, 3 or 12, your come bet loses. The dealer takes the chips. Your pass line bet is unaffected. You can drop another chip in the come box for the next roll.
If the next roll is 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, the dealer picks up your chips from the come box and moves them to the matching place number box. They will put the chips in a specific spot inside that box that corresponds to your position at the table. Your come bet now has a number, and it stays there until either that number hits or a 7 comes.
If you want odds on your come bet, hand chips to the dealer at this point and tell them "odds." They will place the odds on top of your come bet. Most dealers will ask if you want odds the moment your number is established, especially if you have already taken odds on your pass line bet.
The bet plays out from there. When it wins, the dealer pays you. The chips for the original come bet move back to the come box, where you can pick them up. Or you can leave them there to start a new come bet for the next roll. Some players keep a chip in the come box almost continuously, layering bet after bet onto different numbers.
Mistakes to avoid with come bets
A few things to watch for.
Do not place a come bet right before a come out roll. The puck is going to flip to off if the round resolves on the next roll, and your come bet is in a weird state at that point. Wait until a fresh point is established, then start come betting.
Do not stack too many come bets at once. Three numbers is plenty. Four is the maximum I would suggest. Beyond that, you are exposed to a 7 wiping out a serious chunk of your bankroll in one roll, and the diminishing returns on each additional bet are not worth it.
Do not skip odds on come bets. Same rule as the pass line. The odds are the whole point. Without them, you are still playing okay, but you are leaving money on the table.
Do not get confused by the 7 paying come bets in the come box while losing everything else. Yes, the same dice roll wins one bet for you and loses three. Yes, that feels strange. The math is consistent. Get used to it.
Do not place come bets to a level beyond what your bankroll can stand. The pass line plus odds plus three come bets plus odds is a meaningful amount of money in action, and a 7 takes all of it. Make sure you can afford the swings before you scale up.
The bottom line on come bets
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 are comfortable with the pass line and free odds, the come bet is the next layer. Add one come bet to your standard play. Get used to having two numbers working. Once that feels natural, you can add a second come bet for three numbers. That is plenty for most players. You do not need to push beyond that.
The next article covers the don't come bet, which is the don't pass version of this same idea. If you have read both the pass line and don't pass articles, you can guess where this is going.
Read next: The Don't Come Bet