The Come Bet

The actual word “come” doesn’t really tell you much about the bet itself. And once the bet is made, another strange thing happens: the dealer goes and moves the bet on you. This only adds to the confusion. The bet is still essentially quite simple though, not to mention one of the best craps bets to make.

The come bet is made after the dealer establishes the point number. You can tell this has happened if the “puck” is on a number box at the top of the table with the white “ON” side facing up. It’s pretty easy to tell when you can’t make the bet, as the puck will be resting on the black “OFF” side directly on the “Don’t Come” area at the top of the layout.

Now that you know when to make the bet, let’s look at how to make it. So here it is: place your chips in the large box betting area labeled “Come”. Simple enough. Now that you’ve placed the bet, if the shooter tosses either a 7 or 11 on the next roll of the dice, you win even money. If the shooter rolls a 2, 3 or 12 (craps), you lose. This is only the beginning, however. Every roll after this will be different.

Keep on Rollin’

So what happens when the shooter doesn’t roll a 7, 11, 2, 3 or 12? This is where the come bet separates itself from all other bets. Let’s suppose the next roll of the dice is an 8. In this case, the dealer will pick up your bet from the come area and move it inside the 8 point box at the top. You still own the bet, but now you’ve bought the 8 as your “come point number”. From this point on, using our example, if the shooter rolls the 8 again on subsequent rolls before they roll 7, you win even money. If, however, the shooter rolls a 7 before rolling an 8 again, your come point number is a gone point number (my term).

So to recap, if a point number is thrown directly after your come bet is made, your bet travels to the corresponding point box and wins if that number is rolled again before 7, and loses if 7 is rolled before your come point number.

Ride the Come Bet Wave?

Now, in any given game, you will most likely not be the only one placing a come bet. So how does a dealer keep track of all of these bets? He positions the chips within the box in accordance with your position at the table. Oh yeah, and if your bet makes its journey to a point number that ends up winning, don’t expect the dealer to hand you the winning chips. He will place the chips instead, including the original wager, back to the come betting area. It’s totally up to you to retrieve those chips. Otherwise, the bet will simply stay in place as another come bet. Just make sure not to retrieve your chips after the roll when they are already on a come point number; these bets stay until they win or lose.

As far as your chances of winning on a come bet, you have pretty good odds… on the first roll anyway. The winning 7 or 11 can be rolled eight different ways, while the losing craps numbers can be rolled only four different ways. The catch is, after the first roll when the come point is established, the odds are no longer in your favor. The losing 7 can then be rolled more ways than any of the winning come point numbers. The house edge for a come bet, when all is said and done, is just 1.41%, which makes this bet one of the best in the casino.

Multiple Betting

One more thing: You can actually make more than one come bet; most players often have multiple bets going at the same time. After your first bet, feel free to lay down another one. Why? Because it’s good to have several numbers covered in case the shooter goes on a “hot” streak and throws a lot of numbers without rolling a 7. The downside is, once the 7 rears its ugly head, all of your bets lose. Now if you want to further reduce the casino edge, you might want to back the come with an odds bet. If you’re not sure what this is, check out our Craps Bets section.

Or, continue on to play a Free Craps Game, or learn about The Dice, Dice Setting, and how to detect Crooked Dice...