Don't Pass has the slightly lower house edge under standard rules: approximately 1.36%, compared with 1.41% for Pass Line. Pass Line suits someone who wants to back the shooter making the point; Don't Pass suits someone comfortable betting on seven arriving first after a point is established. Our calculations below assume fair dice and a Don't Pass come-out push on 12; the craps rules guide explains the wider game.
The difference is small. Choosing between these bets changes which results you want, but neither produces a long-term player advantage.
Pass Line and Don't Pass reward opposite point results
Pass Line wins when the established point repeats before seven; Don't Pass wins when seven arrives first. Before that stage, a separate set of rules applies.
The come-out roll starts a new betting round. A total of 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 establishes the point, the number that Pass Line needs to repeat.
| Stage and dice result | Pass Line | Don't Pass, bar 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Come-out: 7 or 11 | Wins | Loses |
| Come-out: 2 or 3 | Loses | Wins |
| Come-out: 12 | Loses | Pushes |
| Come-out: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 | Establishes point | Establishes point |
| After point: point repeats | Wins | Loses |
| After point: 7 appears | Loses | Wins |
| After point: any other total | Remains unsettled | Remains unsettled |
Standard bar-12 rules assumed throughout. A push means no win or loss; the stake remains yours.
The stage matters more than the most recent total:
- Seven wins for Pass Line on the come-out but loses after a point exists.
- Twelve pushes Don't Pass on the come-out; after a point exists, it does not settle either line bet.
- A total that neither settles the bet nor establishes a new point does not create another wager.
If seven arrives first, those outcomes reverse. You are betting on the sequence specified by the rules, not simply whether the next roll is high or low.
Both line bets pay even money, with a small edge difference
Both base bets pay 1:1 on a win: a $10 winning stake earns $10 profit, with the original $10 returned separately. Don't Pass has a lower house edge because its full set of winning, losing and pushing outcomes produces a slightly smaller expected loss.
House edge means the expected loss as a percentage of the initial stake across many repetitions. It does not predict the result of one session.
| Base bet | House edge | Expected loss per $1,000 initially wagered |
|---|---|---|
| Pass Line | 1.4141% | $14.14 |
| Don't Pass, bar 12 | 1.3636% | $13.64 |
OddsGuru calculations from 36 equally likely outcomes for two fair dice, even-money payouts and the settlement rules above. Don't Pass includes pushes in the initial-wager denominator; figures are rounded.
That is approximately 50 cents per $1,000 wagered between the two bets. Here, $1,000 means accumulated initial stakes, not necessarily a $1,000 deposit.
Don't Pass is therefore the lower-cost choice mathematically, but preferring Pass Line is reasonable if you enjoy backing the point. The difference is too small to justify increasing your stake just because you switched sides.
An additional odds bet changes the payout comparison. After a point exists, Pass Line odds back the point; Don't Pass odds back seven. Their fair profit payouts follow directly from the dice combinations:
- Point 4 or 10: Pass odds pay 2:1; Don't Pass odds pay 1:2.
- Point 5 or 9: Pass odds pay 3:2; Don't Pass odds pay 2:3.
- Point 6 or 8: Pass odds pay 6:5; Don't Pass odds pay 5:6.
Betting both lines does not remove the casino's edge
Equal stakes on both lines cancel each other's profit and loss except on the barred come-out result. Under bar-12 rules, a come-out 12 loses the Pass Line stake while Don't Pass pushes.
For two $10 bets:
- On a come-out 7 or 11, Pass Line wins $10 and Don't Pass loses $10.
- On a come-out 2 or 3, those outcomes reverse.
- On a come-out 12, the combined result is a $10 loss.
- If a point is established, the eventual line results cancel.
Adding unrelated wagers also changes what you are comparing. A side bet has its own settlement rules and expected cost; it does not improve the underlying line bet. Our guide to craps bets worth skipping examines those separate wagers.
The come-out rules preserve the casino's advantage
Don't Pass becomes more likely to win than lose once a point exists, but its difficult come-out stage offsets that advantage.
Seven has six dice combinations. Each possible point has fewer: three combinations for 4 or 10, four for 5 or 9, and five for 6 or 8. Once six is the point, for example, Don't Pass wins with probability 6/11; Pass Line wins with probability 5/11. Other totals delay settlement.
House-edge calculation
OddsGuru's Pass Line win probability is:
8/36 + 2 × [(3/36 × 3/9) + (4/36 × 4/10) + (5/36 × 5/11)] = 244/495.
The first term covers come-out wins. The remaining terms cover establishing each point and then repeating it before seven.
Because Pass Line has no push, its loss probability is 251/495. The difference produces the 1.4141% house edge.
For Don't Pass under bar-12 rules:
- Win probability: 949/1980.
- Loss probability: 976/1980.
- Push probability: 55/1980, equal to 1/36.
Fair odds bets add no expected loss of their own, but they add money at risk. Keeping the same base stake and adding odds leaves its expected monetary loss unchanged while lowering the loss percentage across the larger total amount wagered.
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