The Don't Pass Bet in Craps

The don't pass bet is a bet that the shooter is going to lose the round. You're betting against everything the pass line bettors are betting for: when they win, you lose, and when they lose, you win. You make it by putting chips on the don't pass bar, the thin strip running just inside the pass line, usually labeled "Don't Pass Bar" with either "Bar 12" or "Bar 2."

Like the pass line, it's a self-service bet, and you can only make a fresh one during the come out roll, when the puck shows off. Once a point is established, you can't start a new don't pass bet for that round; you wait for the next come out.

The don't pass plays in two phases like the pass line, but the rules of winning are flipped. On the come out roll, it loses on a 7 or 11 (the pass line winners) and wins even money on a 2 or 3 (craps numbers). The 12 on the come out is a special case: it's a push, not a win, meaning neither side wins or loses and your bet just stays where it is.

If the come out is a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, that number becomes the point and the puck flips on. From here, the don't pass wins if a 7 comes before the point is rolled again, and loses if the point hits before a 7. It's the pure opposite of the pass line. The 7, your enemy as a pass line bettor during the point cycle, is your best friend as a don't pass bettor.

This is the whole reason the don't pass works the way it does. If you simply flipped every pass line result to make the don't pass, the bet would actually have a player edge over the casino. The come out favors the pass line, so reversing it would give the don't pass 8 ways to win and 4 to lose, and the point cycle math also flips in the don't pass bettor's favor since the 7 is more likely than any single point. Combined, the don't pass would be a player-favorable bet.

The casino can't allow that, so they push one of the come out craps numbers to take that edge back. Most casinos push the 12; a few push the 2. Either way, one of the three craps numbers that would otherwise be a don't pass winner becomes a push, nudging the math just barely back in the casino's favor. The label tells you which: "Bar 12" means the 12 is the push, "Bar 2" means the 2 is. The two versions are functionally identical, since both numbers come up with the same probability. If you ever see a casino that bars the 3, run; that's a worse rule and almost nobody offers it.

The don't pass bet has a house edge of about 1.36 percent, versus 1.41 percent for the pass line. The difference is tiny but real, and the don't pass is technically the better mathematical bet. That 0.05 percent is the leftover edge after the bar-12 rule. So if don't pass has a lower edge, why does almost nobody bet it? Three reasons.

First, social, which we'll get to. Second, the difference is tiny, about 5 cents per $100 wagered, or one dollar over a 200-bet session, so most people don't pick a bet to save a buck. Third, the come out roll feels worse on the don't pass: you watch a 7 come up and the table erupts while you just lost, and the first roll of every round is much more likely to lose for don't pass bettors (8 ways to make a 7 or 11 versus only 3 ways to make a 2 or 3, since the 12 is barred). It's hard to start every round at an immediate disadvantage, even if the math evens out later.

Once a point is set, the math actually flips in your favor, the opposite of the pass line. If the point is 4, you win on a 7 (6 ways) and lose on a 4 (3 ways), twice as likely to win as lose. If the point is 5 or 9, it's 6 wins to 4 losses, about 60 percent. If the point is 6 or 8, it's 6 wins to 5 losses, about 55 percent.

So once a point is set, you're favored to win every single point cycle, while the pass line bettor is not. That difference is exactly why the come out roll is set up to be friendly to pass line bettors: the casino lets them start with an advantage to compensate for the disadvantage that comes later. For don't pass bettors it works in reverse, starting at a disadvantage on the come out and then riding a favorable point cycle to win the round.

Like the pass line, the don't pass lets you take odds once a point is established, still at zero house edge, but the mechanics are inverted. For pass line odds you take odds, betting the harder side and getting paid more than you bet. For don't pass odds you lay odds, betting the easier side (a 7 before the point) and putting up more than you stand to win.

On a 4 or 10 point you lay 2 to 1 ($20 to win $10), on a 5 or 9 you lay 3 to 2 ($15 to win $10), on a 6 or 8 you lay 6 to 5 ($12 to win $10). The casino caps the maximum based on what your don't pass bet would win. At a 3x-4x-5x table with a $10 don't pass bet, you can lay $60 to win $30 on a 4/10, $60 to win $40 on a 5/9, and $60 to win $50 on a 6/8. As with pass line odds, always take them; skipping odds on either side is leaving money on the table. The free odds article walks through the full math.

Unlike the pass line, the don't pass is not a contract bet. You can take it down or reduce it at any time after a point is established. The reason is the math: once a point is set, the don't pass has the better of the deal, so the casino is willing to let you take your money off, knowing you'd only do it if you were unsure of the math, which costs you.

Some inexperienced don't pass bettors wait for a point, then pull their bet, hoping to avoid the come out 7s and 11s. The problem is that this strips out exactly the part of the bet with the player edge, handing the casino back their advantage and then some. Don't do this. The smart play is to leave the bet alone and let the math work. You took a hit on the come out; the point cycle is your reward, and pulling the bet throws it away.

When everybody is betting the pass line, you have a room full of people hoping for the same outcome, one big team rooting for the dice. Then there's the don't pass bettor, rooting for the opposite, sitting in a room of people screaming with joy with a small private smile because everyone else just lost.

This doesn't always go over well. Some pass line bettors take it personally, feel jinxed, glare, move tables, or say things. None of it affects the math, but it affects the experience. The right way to handle it is to be quiet: don't celebrate when the shooter sevens out, don't high-five anyone when others are losing, just collect your chips and keep your face neutral. Most pass line bettors don't mind a quiet don't pass bettor; they mind the loud ones who rub it in. More in the craps etiquette article.

So when does it make sense? One scenario is extracting slightly better math at the cost of the social experience. If you're playing alone, online, or with friends all betting different things, the 0.05 percent advantage is real and you may as well take it. Another is variance: the don't pass produces a smoother experience over a long session, losing during hot rolls but making money during cold ones. At a table where shooters are sevening out fast, the don't pass is the only bet doing well. A third is contrarian psychology, some players just like being the underdog rooting against the crowd.

For most beginners, though, stick with the pass line for at least your first dozen sessions. The don't pass is a fine bet, but the pass line gives you the social experience that's half the fun of craps. Once you're comfortable, experiment with don't pass on quieter nights. Don't start there.

Wait for a moment between rolls with the puck off, and place chips on the don't pass bar in front of you. The dealer acknowledges it, the shooter throws, and the bet plays out. If a point gets set, you become eligible to lay odds: hand chips to the dealer, since lay odds usually go on top of your don't pass bet, and tell them how much to lay. If the bet wins, the dealer pushes your winnings next to it and you pick them up, with the original bet staying on the bar. Online, click the don't pass bar, then the lay odds area when a point is set, and the software handles the math.

The don't pass is a slightly better mathematical bet than the pass line and a slightly worse social experience. The two effects roughly cancel for most players, which is why the pass line dominates despite the math. Both are excellent foundational bets, both should always be combined with full odds, and both are far better than anything else on the table outside of come bets. If you ever want to try the don't pass, do it when the table is mostly empty or online, not on a packed Saturday night. The dice don't care, but other people might. The next article gets into the come bet, essentially a second pass line bet you can make at any time.