Craps Free Odds Bet: Payout, House Edge and Multiple Odds
The Smartest Bet in Craps
The free odds bet is the smartest craps bet of all. We say this because unlike all other craps bets which pay at less than the actual or true odds, this wager carries a fair payout. You get paid for what your wager is really worth.
You can make a free odds bet with the pass/don't pass and come/don't come bets. Since the pass/don't pass bear the smallest house edge in craps, you should always wager with those two plus the free odds bet.
How to Make the Free Odds Bet
It is very easy to make a free odds bet. After wagering on pass, you wait for the point to be made. No matter what number it is, so long as it is a point you can make a free odds bet. Put it behind your pass wager. Now if the point turns up again before the number 7, you win both the pass bet and the free odds bet.
The free odds bet does not improve your chances of winning games in craps. But it does give you better payoffs for money that you would have otherwise bet the ordinary way and got paid at less than the true odds. That is where the benefit of using this bet lies.
Free Odds Bet Payouts for Points
The payout rates for a free odds bet depend on the odds of the point number being hit. Since it pays at true odds, they are identical. These payout odds are invariable; if they were they wouldn't be true odds (or else the dice don't have six sides)!
Point Payout 4 / 10 2:1 5 / 9 3:2 6 / 8 6:5
Free Odds Bet Multiple Odds and House Edge
The free odds bet is always a multiple of the original stake. It is like a raise in poker. You can raise 2x, 5x and so the size of the big blind depending on the rules of the poker game. In craps, the "raise" limit is set by the casino; the higher the multiple odds, the lower the house edge and the better for the player.
Ideally, you should never play at a craps table with less than 10x multiple odds for the free odds bet.
The table below shows the house edge for the different multiple odds. It assumes you wager on the pass line only.
Multiple Odds House Edge
1X 0.85% 2X 0.61% 3X 0.47% 5X 0.33% 10X 0.18% 20X 0.10% 100X 0.02%
The house edge is always a little smaller if you choose don't pass line. Yet the unpopularity of the don't pass bet erodes that slight advantage. Most of the time you will be happy staying with pass line plus free odds bets.