Craps Table Layout: The Complete Guide

Craps is a complex game, but if you understand the basics, you will start enjoying it in no time. In this guide, pro gambler Bill Collins will teach you everything about the craps table layout. 

Here are the topics that will be covered:

• The basics of the table layout
• Key betting areas
• Proposition bets explained
• Prop bets available in the center of the table
• Crapless vs regular craps table
• Pro tips for newbies

So, if you want to go all-in with online craps, then you will love this guide from Bill Collins.

Let's get started!

Craps Table Layout - The Basics

Craps is a fast-paced, exciting table game where you can win or lose a lot of money in a very short period.

The bets available to a person new to the game are complicated enough to be intimidating, so let me show you around the table and familiarize you with the bets you can make and how they work. You can read my how to play craps tutorial to get familiar with more rules of the game.

 

In online craps, you can make multiple bets if you want to and can afford it. Check out the craps odds and payout chart guide to learn more.

When you first walk up to a regular craps table, it will probably look like the one shown below. While the full view of a regular craps table may seem overwhelming at first, don´t worry. This guide covers every betting area on the table.

The Main Betting Areas on the Craps Table

The craps table is divided in several betting areas, with different rules and bets available.

Pass Line, Come Box

Both tables have a betting area between the box numbers area and the Pass Line for making Come Bets, which are the same as a Pass Line bet, except that it is made after a Pass Line point number is established.  It plays out just like a second Pass Line bet. 

Keep in mind that the craps table layout also features the opposite bets for the Pass Line and Come:

• Don't Pass bar
• Don't Come bar (except the 12, which in this case will result in a push) 

Individual Box Numbers

On a regular online craps table you can make place and buy bets on 4 5 6 8 9 10. These are tracked at the top of the table at both ends. 

Those boxes around each number have enough room in them that chips can be placed in different locations within the box to indicate the position of the player making the bet.

Lay Bets

There is an unmarked area above each number in that number’s box on a regular online craps table (called lay bets) where the dealer puts lay bets made for when players want to bet that the 7 will roll before the number being bet. 

Some players use lay bets as hedge bets for their place and buy bets to try to help soften the blow felt in losing their place bets to a 7 rolling. (They lose their place bets, but with a lay bet in place, they win that bet. 

Field Bets

Below the Come Bets area, is the rather large Field bet area for betting that a 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12 will appear on the next roll of the dice. 

Bets here, when won, are paid 1-to-1, except for a hit on 2 usually paying 2-to-1, and a hit on 12 usually paying 3-to-1. The payouts on 2 and 12 can vary from casino to casino.

The reason the Field bet area takes up so much table space at the ends of the table is that the casino wants you to have every opportunity to make this bet because it is a real money-maker for the casino. 

Big 6 and Big 8 Bets

These two bets are given their betting area at the end corner of the table if they are offered. They are the same as a place bet on 6 or 8, except that instead of paying more money than bet, like the place bets on those numbers do, the Big 6 and Big 8 just pay even money. 

So, by just having your bets made as place bets on 6 & 8, instead of betting them as Big 6 and Big 8, you will be paid more when they win. Casinos like getting to pocket the difference in payouts when people bet the Big 6 and Big 8 and win.

Proposition Bets Explained for Beginners

Both tables also have a “proposition bets” betting area in the center for bets from players at both ends of the table share. 

Any “prop bets” the player wants to make are tossed to the stickman at the center of the table while telling him what prop bets you want to bet. He places those bets for you. 

For the table crew to know who had winning prop bets down that need to be paid when a bet wins, the bets are placed in the proper betting square for that bet, in a position that indicates the player who has made that bet.

The Prop Bet center section contains all the crazy, hard-to-win specialty bets like “hard-way bets”, “horn bets”, “any craps”, “any 7” and any bonus bets that the casino may offer. 

The casino encourages players to constantly be betting the bets in the center table prop bets section, as those bets are the ones that usually give the house their biggest advantage over the players. 

Players constantly late-betting the prop bets is one of the things that slows down the speed of play at craps tables.

Bets Available in the Center Table Prop Bets Section

Here are the 8 props bets that you can find in the center table section and their payouts:

House Bonus Bets

Made by the players, like Fire Bets, All-Tall-Small (ATS), Sharpshooter, or Repeater Bets are tracked in the top section of the center Prop Bets section. Each casino decides which, if any, bonus bets it offers players. The dealer can quickly explain each bonus bet. All you have to do is ask them to do so.

Any 7 Bet 

Pays 4 to 1 if the next roll of the dice is any of the 6 ways a 7 can be rolled. Every other number loses the bet. Any 7 pays 4-to-1.

Any Craps Bet

The Any Craps bet pays 7-to-1 if the next roll of the dice is a 2, 3, or 12. Every other number loses the bet.

Hardways Bets

The hardway bet is won when the hard way number you have bet on rolls before a losing 7. The hard 4, (2-2 on the tops of the dice,) and hard 10 (5-5 on the tops of the dice) pay 7-to-1 when it wins. The hard 6 (3-3 on the tops of the dice) and hard 8 (4-4 on the tops of the dice) pay 9-to-1 when it wins.

The bet stays up until either the bet is won or lost. It is not a one-roll bet. The hard 6 and hard 8 pay more because there are more ways for the bets to lose that bet than with the hard 4 and hard 10.

Individual Hard-to-roll Horn Numbers

Betting the 2, with 1-1 on the tops of the dice, or 12, with 6-6 on the tops of the dice, wins 30-to-1 when that number is rolled on the next toss of the dice on a regular craps table. It loses to every other number that can roll. Each is bet separately. The 3, with 1-2 or 2-1 on the tops of the dice, and 11, with 5-6 or 6-5 on the tops of the dice win 15-to-1 when that number is rolled on the next toss of the dice on a regular craps table. It loses to every other number that can roll.

Horn Number Bets 

At the bottom of the Prop Bets is a place to track Horn bets that cover all the horn numbers as a combined bet, that are made in multiples of $4, as the bet gets divided equally on 2, 3, 11 and 12. On a $4 horn bet, if a 2 or 12 rolls on the shooter’s next roll, ¼ the bet wins at 30-to-1 minus ¾ of the $4 bet, for a payout of $27. If a 3 or 11 rolls on the shooter’s next roll, ¼ of the bet wins at 15-to-1 minus ¾ of the $4 bet, for a payout of $12.)

C and E Bets

At the outer edges of the Prop Bets section is a vertical bet tracking area of two joined circles for what is called C and E bets. ¨C and E¨ are short for Craps Bets and Yo-11 bets. Your bet here is split evenly on both craps 2, 3, or 12 and yo-11, so it is best in multiples of $2.

Whichever part of the bet wins gets paid off, minus the losing part of the bet. (A $6 C and E bet that hit on a craps number would pay off a winning $3 bet at 7-to-1 for $21, minus the losing $3 half of the bet, for a payout of $18.

A $6 C and E bet that hit on yo-11 would pay off a $3 bet at 15-to-1 for $45, minus the losing $3 half of the bet, for a payout of $42.)

Crapless Craps vs. Regular Craps Table

Here are the three main differences between crapless and regular craps tables:

1. A craps roll of 2, 3, or 12 on come-out rolls does not lose the players’ pass line bets; when one of those craps numbers rolls, it just becomes the point that the shooter has to toss again before rolling a losing 7 to win. In regular craps, the player loses their pass line bet when a 2, 3, or 12 rolls on come-out rolls before a point is established. That sounds good, a second chance to win, but with the major drawback being that the players are then stuck with a very difficult number to have to make to win their pass line bet. 
2. On a Crapless Craps table, there are no dark-side bets (don’t pass and don’t come bets) for betting that the shooter is going to 7-out before making their point. You can only bet with the shooter on a crapless table, so that eliminates using dark-side hedge bets to protect your place and buy bets as you can do in regular craps. (The regular craps table has betting areas for players to make Don’t Pass and Don’t Come bets, just inside the Pass Line. Both bets are a “push” when 12 rolls.)
3. In Crapless Craps you can individually buy the high-paying and hard-to-hit horn numbers, 2, 3, 11, and 12 so that you will win more if they roll before a losing 7 rolls. That might give you many rolls to try to win those buy bets; whereas on a regular craps table those bets are never buy bets and that number bet has to roll on the very next roll to win because in regular craps those bets are always just a one-roll bet. 

On a Crapless Craps table the buy 2 and buy 12 bets pay 6-to-1 and the buy 3 and buy 11 bets pay 3-to-1.

However, having multiple tosses to try to hit those horn-number buy bets benefits dice-influencing shooters way more than shooters who can’t keep their dice on an axis during their toss as often as a good dice-influencing shooter might be able to.

Quick Tip for New Players that Want to Learn to Play Craps 

Starting out, I’d just make a minimum pass line bet to get my feet wet while observing the action. Look at the plaque on the side wall at either end of the table for how much the minimum bets are.

That should allow you to stay in the game longer so that you’ll have the chance to learn more about how it is played.

Final Thoughts

We hope that you enjoyed Bill Collin´s craps table layout guide.

Now, you can use the things you learned to improve your gameplay and improve your odds of winning.

If you want to dig deeper into Craps strategies (like the 3-point molly), you can check out our craps Academy guides. You will find some interesting stuff there!

Have fun and remember to shoot the dice responsibly!