The Don't Come Bet In Craps
If you have read our come bet article, you can probably guess what the don't come bet is going to be. It is to the don't pass bet what the come bet is to the pass line. Same idea, signs flipped. A bet against the shooter that you can make in the middle of a round, after a point has already been established.
This is the bet most beginners never touch and a lot of regular players never touch either. The don't pass already feels socially weird to a lot of people, and the don't come is just doubling down on that same energy. But mathematically it is one of the better bets at the table, and it lets serious dark side bettors run multiple don't bets at the same time, just like pass line bettors do with come bets.
This article walks through how the bet works, what makes it different from the don't pass, and when it makes sense to use it. If you have read the don't pass article, most of this will look familiar. We are mostly just changing the timing.
What Is The Dont Come Bet In Craps
A don't come bet is a don't pass bet you make after a point has already been established. You put your chips in the don't come box, which is a small box on the layout right next to the come box. It is usually labeled "Don't Come Bar" with the same bar 12 or bar 2 notation as the don't pass.
The bet is self-service for the initial placement. You drop your own chips. After the next roll, the dealer takes over and moves the chips for you, just like with come bets. You can only make a don't come bet during a point cycle, when the puck is on. If a new come out roll happens, you cannot place a don't come bet for that roll. You would make a don't pass bet instead, since the timing for that bet has come back around.
How a don't come bet works In Craps
The don't come bet treats the next roll as its own come out roll, with the wins and losses flipped from a come bet.
If the next roll is a 7 or 11, the don't come loses. The dealer sweeps the chips out of the don't come box. This is the part that makes don't come hard to get used to. The 7 just sevened out the rest of the table, and you sevened out your existing don't come bets, but the new don't come bet you just placed loses too because the 7 is its come out winner equivalent. The dice did one thing and it cost you on every front except your old don't pass bet.
Just kidding. Wait. Let me re-read that.
If the next roll is a 7 during the point cycle, several things happen at once. Your don't pass bet wins, since the 7 came before the point. Any existing don't come bets that have already established numbers also win, since the 7 came before their numbers too. But the new don't come bet you just placed in the don't come box loses, because for that bet, the 7 was its come out roll, and the 7 is a loser on the come out for don't bets.
So the same 7 wins your old don't come bets and loses your new one. Confusing? Yes. Is the math consistent? Also yes. The dealer settles all of these at once and you watch chips moving in different directions across the table.
If the next roll is a 2 or 3, your don't come wins. The 12 is a push, just like on don't pass. The dealer pays you on the 2 or 3, leaves the bet alone on the 12.
If the next roll is a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, that becomes the don't come bet's number. The dealer picks up your chips from the don't come box and moves them to a small spot above the corresponding place number box at the top of the table. This is a separate area from where come bets sit, so the dealer can keep them straight.
From here, your don't come bet wins if a 7 hits before that number. It loses if the number hits before a 7. Just like a don't pass bet, just on a delay, just on a different number than the original point.
Lay odds on don't come bets
You can lay odds on a don't come bet just like you can on a don't pass bet, once the don't come has established a number. Same math. Zero house edge.
The mechanics work the same way as don't pass odds. You hand chips to the dealer and tell them you want to lay odds on your don't come bet. They will set the chips on top of your don't come bet in its spot, slightly offset.
The amount you can lay is governed by the same odds structure as the rest of the bets at the table, usually 3x-4x-5x. The maximum lay is calculated based on what your underlying don't come bet would win, just like don't pass odds.
Like don't pass odds, the bet is mathematically zero edge. Like don't pass odds, you should always lay them. Skipping odds is the same mistake whether you are on the right side or the wrong side of the table. Take them.
For the full math on how lay odds work, our free odds article covers both sides.
The math: the same as don't pass
The don't come bet has the same house edge as the don't pass bet. About 1.36 percent on a flat bet, dropping well below 1 percent when you lay odds. Identical structure, identical math, identical payouts. The only difference is when you can place the bet.
This is worth saying explicitly because, like with come bets, some players assume don't come must be different mathematically because it sits in a different spot on the table. It is not. It is just a don't pass bet on a delay.
The point cycle math, revisited
One thing that is true of all dark side bets, including don't come, is that the math during the point cycle is in your favor. If your don't come number is 4 or 10, you win on a 7 (6 ways) and lose on the number (3 ways). That is twice as many wins as losses. If your number is 5 or 9, it is 6 wins versus 4 losses. If it is 6 or 8, it is 6 wins versus 5 losses.
So once a don't come bet has its number, you are favored to win it. The come out portion of the bet, where the 7 and 11 hit you, is where the casino gets its edge back. But once you survive that part and get a number established, you are in good shape.
This is why the same pull-down rule applies as with don't pass. You can take a don't come bet down at any time after it has established a number. But doing so strips out the part of the bet that is in your favor. Do not pull don't come bets down once they are established. The math is working for you. Let it work.
How dark side bettors stack don't come bets In Craps
The way a dedicated don't bettor uses this is similar to how pass line bettors use come bets, with the math flipped.
You start with a don't pass bet. The shooter sets a point, say it is 8. You lay odds on your don't pass. Now you are betting that a 7 hits before the 8.
The shooter throws again. The roll is a 5. You drop a chip in the don't come box. The dealer moves it to the don't come spot above the 5 box. You hand them chips and lay odds on the don't come 5. Now you have two bets working. Your don't pass is rooting for a 7 before the 8, your don't come is rooting for a 7 before the 5. Both bets win if a 7 comes.
The shooter throws again. The roll is a 9. You drop another chip in the don't come box. The dealer moves it to the don't come spot above the 9. You lay odds. Now three bets are working, all rooting for the 7 over their respective numbers. A 7 wins all three at once.
This is the dark side equivalent of a pass line bettor running three numbers with come bets. The difference is that a 7 is a sweep win for you, where it is a sweep loss for the right side bettor. The variance is reversed. Long rolls hurt you. Short rolls and quick sevens are gold.
One thing to know about stacking don't come bets. As more numbers get covered with don't bets, the chance that any single number hits before a 7 goes up, just because there are more numbers in play. So you are more likely to lose individual don't come bets to point hits, and the wins from a 7 have to make up for it. The math works out the same in the long run, but the short-term swings can feel different from running come bets.
The 7-out scenario
The big payoff moment for a don't come bettor is when the shooter sevens out. Every dark side bet on the table wins. Don't pass wins. All your don't come bets win. All your laid odds win. You collect everything in one roll.
This is the moment that makes don't come bets worth the social awkwardness for the players who use them. The same 7 that ruins everyone else's day pays you on every bet you have. It is a real and visible payoff. The dealers are paying out three or four bets to you while taking chips from everyone else.
The flip side, of course, is that long rolls are brutal. Every time the shooter makes a point, your don't pass loses. Every time a number hits before a 7, the don't come bet on that number loses. A really hot shooter can drain a don't come bettor faster than a cold table can drain a pass line bettor, because the don't come bettor is set up for many small wins and one big loss when the dice are running cold, but during a hot streak they get many small losses without the big payoff.
Most don't side play is a slow grind toward the long-run math advantage. The math is in your favor. The variance can be punishing in either direction. This is part of why most craps players never go full dark side, even though the math says they could.
How to actually make the bet
Walking through it.
You have a don't pass bet down. The shooter has set a point. The puck is on. You decide you want a second don't bet running, so you take a chip and drop it in the don't come box. The don't come box is the small thin box right next to the come box, on whatever side of the table you are standing.
The next roll happens. If it is a 2 or 3, the dealer pays you even money. If it is a 12, the bet pushes and stays where it is. If it is a 7 or 11, the dealer takes the chips. If it is a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, the dealer picks up your chips and moves them to the small don't come spot above that number's place box.
If you want to lay odds at this point, hand chips to the dealer and tell them lay odds on your don't come. They will set up the bet correctly.
The bet plays out. When it wins, on a 7 hitting before the number, the dealer pays you. The original chip stays where it is unless you ask to take it down. You can keep adding don't come bets on subsequent rolls, building up multiple numbers, until either you have as many bets as you want or the round ends.
Online, just click the don't come box, then click your odds when the bet establishes a number. The software handles all the math.
The social side, again
If betting don't pass makes you a black sheep at the table, betting don't pass plus stacking don't come bets makes you the wolf in the room. You are betting against the shooter on a fundamental level and rooting for them to fail with multiple bets at once. When a 7 hits, you are collecting on three or four bets while everyone else is losing.
How you handle this is up to you. Some don't bettors just keep their face neutral, collect their winnings quietly, and let other players blame the shooter. Some make a point of not interacting with the rest of the table. A few are openly contrarian and enjoy being the villain. I would not recommend the last approach, since it can lead to friction with other players that takes the fun out of the night.
The right move, in my experience, is to play the don't side privately. Do not announce your strategy. Do not celebrate when other people lose. Do not give pass line bettors a hard time. Just collect, keep your face still, and let the math do its job. Most pass line bettors do not really mind a quiet don't bettor. They mind the loud ones. Be quiet.
For more on table behavior, our etiquette article covers it.
Don't come vs lay bets
One question that comes up. Why use don't come bets when you can lay bets directly on individual numbers? Lay bets, which we will not cover in detail in this beginner section but you can find at any craps table, also let you bet against a specific number.
The answer is similar to come vs place. Don't come bets have a lower house edge than lay bets in most casinos because lay bets carry a 5 percent commission on every winning bet. The commission is a kind of stealth house edge that adds up over time. Don't come bets do not have a commission.
The downside is that you cannot pick your number with don't come bets. The next roll establishes whatever number it happens to be. If you want to specifically lay against the 6 or 8, the easiest numbers, the lay bet lets you do that. The don't come bet just gives you whatever shows up next.
For most beginner-friendly play, the don't come bet is the better choice over lay bets, just like the come bet is the better choice over place bets. Lower edge, simpler to track, no commissions to worry about.
Mistakes to avoid with don't come bets
A few specific things to watch for.
Do not skip lay odds on don't come bets. Same rule as don't pass. The odds are the whole point of the structure. Without them, you are still playing okay, but you are missing the part of the bet that has zero house edge.
Do not place a don't 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 don't come is in a weird state at that point. Wait until you are deep into a point cycle to start adding don't come bets.
Do not stack too many don't come bets at once. Two or three is plenty. Beyond that, you are scaling exposure with diminishing returns. Most experienced dark side bettors run two numbers at most.
Do not pull a don't come bet down once it has established a number. The math is in your favor at that point. Pulling the bet costs you that advantage.
Do not get loud or smug when you win on a 7. The other players just lost. Smile to yourself, collect your chips, and stay quiet. Loud don't bettors are the most disliked players in the room.
The bottom line on don't come
The don't come bet is the don't pass with the timing changed. It lets dark side bettors run multiple bets against the shooter at once, just like come bets let right side bettors run multiple bets with the shooter. The math is identical to don't pass, with the same low house edge and the same option to lay zero-edge odds.
Most beginners do not need to use this bet. Most beginners do not bet don't pass either, and the don't come is one step further down that road. But if you find yourself drawn to the dark side, either because of the slight math advantage or because of the contrarian feel of it, the don't come is how you scale up that play.
For most readers of this guide, the right approach is to stick with pass line and come bets for your first hundred sessions. Try don't pass once or twice on a quiet table, just to feel what it is like. The don't come is the most advanced of these basic bets and not something you need to add until you are very comfortable with the rest of the game.
The next article gets into place bets, which are a different structure entirely. Place bets let you bet directly on specific numbers without going through the come bet process. They have their place in the game, especially on the 6 and 8, but the math is not as friendly as come bets.
Read next: Place Bets