Lower the Vig by Taking Odds in Craps
To understand why Taking Odds bets in Craps is so important to your craps play, you first have to appreciate something called the Vig. The “Vig”, which is short for vigorish, is the casino's average profit on any bet. In craps the house vig on the Pass Line bet is 1.41%. That means that for every $10 wager on the Pass Line, the casino will on average keep fourteen cents as profit ($10 x 1.41% = $0.14) over the long run. For example, if you bet $1,000,000 in repeated $10 Pass Line wagers, you will probably lose around $14,100, or 1.41% of your total wagers.
To improve your odds of winning at craps or any other casino game it is important to focus on the bets with the lowest vig. The high vig bets to avoid in craps are Hardways with 9 to 11% and Proposition bets with up to 17%.
Taking Odds
Taking Odds is the only table game wager that has NO Vig because it pays true odds. The payoff does vary according to the point value, however:
| The Point | The Payout | Example Wager |
| 4 and 10 | 2 to 1 | a $5 wager is paid $10 |
| 5 and 9 | 3 to 2 | a $5 wager is paid $7* |
| 6 and 8 | 6 to 5 | a $5 wager is paid $6 |
* Rounded DOWN from $7.50 on a Strip table layout. "Downtown" layout might pay actual ratio of a full $7.50. Strip table layouts do not handle 50-cent pieces.
Taking Odds is a secondary bet dependant on your initial Pass, Don't Pass, Come, or Don't Come bet. If you made a Pass Line bet and the shooter rolls a number to establish a point such as 4,5,6,8,9, or 10, you can now place an Odds bet by placing additional chips below your Pass Line bet. If the shooter rolls the point again you not only win your Pass Line bet, you get paid on your Odds bet as well.
Multiple Odds
The maximum amount you can wager Taking Odds varies from casino to casino, and it’s referred to in terms of some multiple of the Pass Line bet. On a table with Double Odds you can bet twice as much on the Odds as on your Pass Line bet. So for example if you made a $25 bet on the Pass, you could bet $50 on the Odds. Since Odds bet have no vig it is best to play at casinos that are offering the highest multiple. Here you can see the effective vig for the flat bet plus a maximum Odds bet at different multiples.
| Effective Vig at Various Table Odds | ||
| Table Odds | Pass Line | Don't Pass |
| 0x | 1.41% | 1.36% |
| 1x | 0.848% | 0.682% |
| 2x | 0.606% | 0.455% |
| Full Double Odds | 0.572% | 0.431% |
| 3x | 0.471% | 0.341% |
| 3-4-5x | 0.374% | 0.273% |
| 5x | 0.326% | 0.227% |
| 10x | 0.184% | 0.124% |
| 20x | 0.099% | 0.065% |
| 100x | 0.021% | 0.014% |
Full Double Odds means the player can take 2.5x odds on a point of 6 or 8, and 2x on the other points. 3-4-5x Odds means the player can take 3x on the 4 and 10, 4x on the 5 and 9, and 5x on the 6 and 8. If a player takes the maximum odds then the payoff will be seven times the Pass or Come bet.
Laying Odds
Taking Odds bets work differently when you're betting the Don't Pass or Don't Come instead of the Pass or Come. With the Pass or Come you bet a smaller amount to win a larger amount. On the Don't Come side, you are betting a larger amount in order to win a smaller amount. The reason is that you have a greater probability of winning once a point is made since a roll of 7 is more likely than a roll of the point. For example, on a point of 4, instead of betting $25 to win $50, you bet $50 to win $25. In either case Taking Odds earns true odds.
Taking Odds is the Strategy
Taking Odds bets improves your gaming when you allocate a portion of the total wager you intend to place on each round because it lowers the effective vig you are paying the casino on your overall play. If you normally bet $10 per round then you'll get a better deal by betting $2 on the Pass Line and $10 on the Odds assuming a 5x table, vs. betting the $10 on the Pass Line and taking no Odds. With no Odds bet your expected loss is $0.14 per roll ($10 x 1.41%), but by putting $2 on the Pass Line and $10 on the Odds, your expected loss per roll is reduced to only $0.04 ($12 x 0.326%). The end result is that your expected loss per round is reduced by around two-thirds, meaning you have potentially increased the number of rounds your can play with your stake waiting for your hot streak.
The bottom line is to get as large a share of your per round wager on the Odds bet as possible. This is the single most important thing to know about playing craps.
