When you are starting to play the game of craps –or any game of chance that involves dice for that matter—you need to familiarize yourself with the odds that you are playing against. Since craps is a dice game, you should study the dice and the different outcomes that can result from a simple toss.

The Different Chances

Since there are two dies, there is a possibility of 36 different outcomes when the dice are rolled. The most frequently occurring outcome is the seven, which represents six combinations of the 36 different outcomes available. For example, one of these outcomes would be rolling a two and a five, which would total seven. Seven is also one of the potential winning results for the shooter rolling his first bet.

Two and 12 are the most rarely occurring numbers in the probabilities of dice. This is because each only has one outcome that can result in that number. For instance, for 12 the only possible way to achieve this number is to roll two sixes. For two, the player must roll two ones, and so on.

Since seven is one of the most frequently occurring numbers in a dice game, the chance of a player’s winning the first roll –or come out roll—is 8/36. The chance of losing, on the other hand, is half that at 4/36. While a third of all bets rolled may result in winning or losing, the remaining bets may be anything in between. These are the bets that will result in the designated point the player must attempt to roll to. From that point on, the odds change pretty dramatically.

If you are new to the game, you may want to look to find the probabilities of each roll on a chart or graph. These charts and probabilities can be available online by performing a simple internet search, or you can try looking in a book written specifically for dice games and craps. Knowing the available probabilities will help you to determine who close you are to winning or losing in the long run.