Craps for New Zealanders: Rules, Odds and Play

Updated October 2026

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Trace the come-out and point stages, compare Pass Line outcomes, and see how mobile practice and local rules shape play.

How a Craps Round Moves from the Come-Out Roll to the Point

A craps round has two distinct stages: the come-out roll and, if that roll establishes a point, the point stage. The same number can have different consequences depending on which stage is underway. To follow a Pass Line bet, first identify the stage, then compare the roll with the numbers that matter at that stage.

On the come-out roll, the Pass Line and Don’t Pass Line respond in opposite ways to several outcomes. A 7 or 11 wins for the Pass Line and loses for the Don’t Pass Line. A 2 or 3 has the reverse result: the Pass Line loses and the Don’t Pass Line wins. A 12 also loses for the Pass Line, but its treatment on the Don’t Pass Line depends on the ruleset. Some New Zealand online casino rules treat 12 as a tie rather than a win. In that case, the Don’t Pass wager is returned instead of winning.

These outcomes settle the relevant bets immediately. The roll does not establish a point when it produces one of these come-out results, so the round does not move into the point stage on that roll. The next come-out roll begins a new attempt to establish a point. This distinction matters because a 7 is favourable to the Pass Line on the come-out, but has a different role once a point is active.

The remaining come-out results establish the point. The possible point numbers are 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10. When one of them appears, that number becomes the point for the round. The Pass Line bet has not won merely because the point was set; instead, the game moves into a new sequence in which the shooter tries to roll that same number again before rolling a 7.

For example, if the come-out roll establishes 6 as the point, the relevant Pass Line sequence is now specific: another 6 wins the bet, while a 7 before that repeat means the Pass Line does not win. A roll of a different point number does not replace the established point. The target remains 6, and the sequence continues until either the point is rolled again or a 7 appears. The same structure applies if the point is 4, 5, 8, 9 or 10.

That change in stage is the key to reading the table. On the come-out roll, 7 and 11 are immediate Pass Line wins. After a point has been established, 7 is no longer a Pass Line win: the shooter must repeat the point first. The number 11 also does not have the same immediate Pass Line effect in the point sequence that it has on the come-out. The round’s state determines what a result means; the number alone is not enough.

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A simple way to track the action is to keep two questions in view: has a point been established, and if so, which number is it? Before a point exists, classify the roll by the come-out outcomes. Once a point exists, compare each roll with that point and with 7. This avoids treating every roll as if it belonged to one uninterrupted set of rules.

This sequence also explains why asking for the best bet on a craps table cannot be answered from a roll in isolation. A wager’s result depends on when the roll occurs and what the current state of the round is. The Pass Line wins immediately on some come-out results, loses immediately on others, and can remain unresolved while the shooter tries to repeat an established point. The Don’t Pass Line reverses several come-out outcomes, with the treatment of 12 varying by ruleset.

The useful starting point is therefore not a betting sequence but an accurate reading of the round. Identify the come-out roll, note whether it ends the bet or establishes a point, and then track the point against 7. Once those transitions are clear, you can interpret each result without confusing a come-out win with a point-stage loss—or assuming that setting a point has already decided the Pass Line bet.

What the Pass Line’s House Edge Tells You About Craps Odds

A house edge is a measure of the casino’s mathematical advantage on a wager over repeated play. The Pass Line edge in Bank Craps is approximately 1.41%. In practical terms, that percentage describes the expected cost relative to the amount wagered across many decisions. It does not predict the result of a particular roll or tell you what will happen during a short session.

That distinction matters because a low house edge is not the same as a high chance of winning every bet. Individual outcomes still vary. You can win or lose a Pass Line wager, while the edge describes the long-run balance between those outcomes and their payouts. A favourable result in one round does not erase the mathematical cost built into repeated wagering; a losing round does not mean the edge has suddenly increased.

The Pass Line’s figure is also specific to that wager. It should not be treated as the house edge for every bet available at a craps table. In Bank Craps, the Any 7 bet has an approximately 16.67% house edge. That is substantially higher than the Pass Line’s 1.41%, so a wager that may look simple to understand can carry a much greater expected cost. Side bets and bonus bets typically have higher house edges than regular bets, which is why the label or apparent simplicity of a wager is not enough to judge its odds.

What the percentage can and cannot tell you

The house edge lets you compare the mathematical cost of wagers when the figures refer to the same game and are calculated on the same basis. Here, the contrast between the Pass Line and Any 7 is clear: repeated play on the Any 7 bet gives the casino a larger expected share of the wagered amount than repeated play on the Pass Line.

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It does not mean that the casino takes that percentage from each individual bet. Nor does it guarantee a particular result over a fixed playing period. The figure is an expectation across repeated outcomes, not a schedule of losses. Your results can depart from that expectation, particularly when you are looking at only a small number of rolls.

A house edge also does not, by itself, describe every feature a player might care about. It does not tell you how often a wager wins, how large a winning payout is, or how much your results may fluctuate. Those are separate parts of the wager’s profile. To understand the edge, keep the question narrow: how does the wager’s payout structure compare with the probabilities of its outcomes over time?

Is craps the best choice for odds?

The Pass Line’s low edge can make it look attractive when you are comparing the cost of individual wagers. But saying that craps has the best odds in a casino would require a broader comparison across

A Strategy Built Around Bet Order and Point Rules

A craps strategy becomes easier to assess when you separate decisions by when they can be made. The shooter’s first requirement is a Pass Line or Don’t Pass Line bet; without one of those line bets, the player cannot act as shooter. After that, the roll may establish a point, changing which decisions are available. The sequence matters because a wager made before the point and one made after it do not serve the same role.

For a Pass Line bet, the point can be 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10. Once a point is established, the Pass bet wins if that number appears again before a 7. A strategy built around this rule starts by deciding whether to take the Pass Line position, then treats the point as the condition that governs the next stage. It does not assume that adding more bets automatically improves the original position.

The order also defines when an odds bet can be considered. A specialist review describes odds as an additional wager available only after a Pass or Come bet, with its size capped at a multiple of the initial bet. That is a description from one review, not a fixed cap to assume at every table. The practical method is to check the rules for the game in front of you before deciding how much of your bankroll to commit. The key mechanical point is that odds are not a substitute for the required line bet: they follow an eligible bet.

This distinction helps when comparing systems that prescribe a sequence of wagers. First identify the bet that makes you eligible to shoot. Then note whether the roll has established a point. Only after that should you consider any additional wager whose availability depends on an existing bet. If a proposed system asks you to place odds before a qualifying Pass or Come bet, its instructions do not match the described order. If it assumes a particular odds cap without checking the table rules, it may also prescribe a stake that is not permitted there.

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A mathematical approach is not the same as a guarantee of a favourable result. The point sequence tells you what must happen for a Pass Line bet to win, but it does not let you control which number appears next. Bet order can keep your decisions consistent and prevent you from treating a conditional wager as though it were available at any time. It cannot make the dice follow a chosen pattern.

Keep the cost of optional wagers in view as well. Side bets and bonus bets typically have a higher house edge than regular bets, so adding them changes the mathematical profile of a session. A system that recommends extra action should be evaluated by what each added bet does, not by the complexity of its instructions or the number of steps it contains. More steps do not, by themselves, make a strategy more effective.

A useful routine is therefore procedural rather than predictive: make the required line decision, wait for the roll to establish the point or resolve the opening bet, and then consider only wagers allowed at that stage. Check the applicable rules before adding odds, because the cap described by a specialist review may not apply to every ruleset. This gives you a repeatable way to evaluate a craps strategy without confusing betting order with a method for forecasting the dice.

Using an iPad or iPhone to Practise the Craps Sequence

A craps practice session on an iPad or iPhone is useful when it makes the order of a round visible. The aim is not to memorise button positions or judge an app by its graphics. You should be able to identify the current stage, see which bets are available at that stage, and predict what the next roll will do to the layout.

Start by locating the pass-line and don’t-pass-line areas before the dice are rolled. The opening roll is the come-out roll, so the table is not yet working from an established point. If the roll is 7 or 11, pass-line bets win and don’t-pass-line bets lose. A practice screen should make those outcomes clear without requiring you to infer them from a balance change alone. Follow the displayed result back to the wager and check that you can explain why it won or lost.

If the opening roll establishes a point, pause before placing anything else. The possible point numbers are 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10. On a mobile screen, the point indicator may be small or separated from the betting area. Make a habit of finding it before continuing. The round has now changed state: the shooter must roll that same point again before a 7 appears for the pass bet to win. The practice task is to keep track of which number matters, rather than treating each roll as an unrelated result.

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A helpful way to use a tablet or phone is to narrate the sequence quietly as you proceed: come-out roll, point established, then rolls that either revisit the point or do not. After each result, check whether the game remains in the point phase or has moved to a new come-out roll. If the interface advances automatically, use its history or result display, if available, to review the transition. If it does not show enough information to tell what changed, the session may be entertaining but is less useful for learning the sequence.

Pay attention to when the betting controls change. Come bets are available only after a point has been established. That makes the point indicator a practical cue: before it appears, a Come bet is not yet part of the available sequence; after it appears, you can see where the game permits that wager. A Come bet wins if its number is rolled before 7. For this practice exercise, concentrate on recognising when it becomes available and how the interface represents its result, rather than adding several wagers at once.

The screen size affects how easily you can inspect the table, not the rules. On an iPad, you may have more room to view the point marker and betting areas together. On an iPhone, you may need to switch between the table and a bet panel. In either case, slow the session down enough to read the state after every roll. A useful mobile craps game is one that lets you connect each control and result to the round’s current stage—not one that merely lets you tap quickly.

How Come Bets and Odds Bets Work After a Point

Once a point has been established, the table enters a phase in which a Come bet can be placed. It is not available during the come-out roll. The timing matters: a Come bet is a new wager made during the point phase, rather than another name for the original Pass Line bet.

A Come bet then follows the roll sequence toward its own outcome. It wins if the point is rolled before a 7. This gives you a separate wager to track alongside the Pass Line bet: the original bet remains tied to the established point, while the Come bet is judged by the later rolls. If the required point comes first, the Come bet wins; if a 7 appears first, it has not met its winning condition.

That distinction helps when you consider what are the best bets in craps for a particular round. The useful question is not simply which bet sounds favourable, but what event must happen for each wager to win and when you are allowed to place it. A Come bet adds another condition to follow after the point exists. It does not replace the Pass Line bet or change the point already established.

Odds bets are also dependent on an existing wager. You cannot place odds on their own: they must follow a Pass or Come bet. The odds wager is therefore attached to a qualifying line bet, rather than serving as an independent way to enter the round. That dependency matters when you are deciding how many separate outcomes you need to monitor.

A specialist review describes the odds amount as capped by a multiple of the initial bet. That is a description from a review, not a fixed market-wide limit: the cap can depend on the rules being described. The practical point is that the odds stake is constrained in relation to the original Pass or Come bet. Check the applicable table rules before treating a particular cap as available.

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The sequence is easiest to read as a chain: a point is established, a Come bet becomes available, and an odds bet can be added only after a qualifying Pass or Come bet exists. Each step depends on the one before it. If you place a Come bet, you are adding a distinct wager with its own win condition; if you add odds, you are increasing a wager that is already tied to a Pass or Come bet.

These bets should not be confused with side bets or bonus bets. Those typically carry a higher house edge than regular bets, so their presence does not make them a better choice simply because they offer a separate outcome. For line and odds wagers, read the conditions in order: what bet is already in place, whether the point phase has begun, and which roll resolves the wager. That is a more reliable way to assess the best craps bets for your intended play than treating every option as interchangeable.

What Changes Between Bank Craps and Street Craps

The main difference is who takes the other side of a wager. In Bank Craps, the casino is the opposing party; in Street Craps, players bet against one another. That changes the betting relationship, but it does not by itself tell you what a particular roll will do. You still need to know which version’s rules govern the roll and wager.

In Bank Craps, one player rolls two dice. The central pass-line sequence is defined by the relationship between a point and seven: the shooter needs to roll the established point again before seven appears to win the pass bet. The casino-style game therefore has a defined house role and a rule-governed outcome for the wager. The identity of the person holding the dice does not change that sequence.

Street Craps has a different counterparty. The participants wager against each other rather than against a casino. Do not assume that this label alone specifies every detail of how a game is run: the description identifies who is betting against whom, not a complete set of local rules for every informal game. Before interpreting a roll, establish what rules the participants have agreed to use. A roll has no fixed meaning independent of those rules and the wager being settled.

This distinction also helps put questions about dice sets in perspective. Neither the Bank Craps structure nor the Street Craps description makes a particular set of dice a winning choice. A dice set is not a rule that changes the stated condition for a Bank Craps pass bet: the point must come before seven. Likewise, calling a roll the “best” one only makes sense relative to a specific wager and its rules. In Bank Craps, a point roll can matter to the pass bet after the point has been established; that does not make it universally best for every bet or every version.

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Do not confuse the dice with the wager. The dice produce a result; the rules determine how that result settles a bet, and the betting structure determines who pays or receives the stake. Side bets and bonus bets typically carry a higher house edge than regular bets, so their presence should not be taken as evidence that a dice choice improves the wager.

When comparing the two forms, identify the counterparty first, then identify the rules attached to the bet. That gives you a concrete way to interpret the roll without treating a preferred dice set, shooter, or isolated result as a reliable advantage.

Craps Access in New Zealand: Rules and Licensing Context

For someone assessing where online craps may be available, the key distinction is between access to a website and the legal status of the service behind it. New Zealand’s framework has changed: the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 came into force on 1 May 2026 and created the country’s first domestic licensing regime for online casino gaming. The transition arrangements mean that the market does not move immediately from its earlier position to a fully operational licensed system.

Before the Act took effect, online casino gambling supplied from outside New Zealand was not licensed or supervised by a New Zealand regulator. A customer who wagered with an offshore website during that period had no domestic government recourse. Offshore sites may be accessible to people in New Zealand, and a player does not incur legal liability simply for using an offshore casino without a local licence. Accessibility, however, should not be confused with domestic oversight or protection.

The Gambling Act 2003 bars online casinos from being based in New Zealand. The 2026 Act establishes a route to domestic licensing, rather than making it lawful for a locally based online casino to operate outside that framework. The Department of Internal Affairs is New Zealand’s primary gambling regulator and oversees regulation of the online casino licensing framework. The Gambling Commission has a distinct licensing role: it hears and determines casino licence applications, issues online casino licences, and approves changes to licence conditions.

The transition period

The transition runs from 1 May 2026 to 1 December 2026. Online casinos that were already providing services to people in New Zealand before the start of the transition may continue operating during that period, subject to the Act’s transitional provisions. This is a time-limited arrangement, not a general authorisation for any provider to enter the market.

A provider that has not applied for a licence must stop conducting online casino gambling in New Zealand by 1 December 2026. If an application is declined, the provider must end its online casino gambling operations in the country and leave the market. The full licensed regime is not expected to be operational until 2027, so the transition and the eventual licensing system are separate stages.

The expected consequences also change over time. Unlicensed operation is expected to become an offence from around mid-2027, and operators without a licence may face enforcement action and fines of up to NZ$5 million. These provisions concern operators, not customers: playing at an offshore casino without a local licence does not itself expose a player to a fine or criminal prosecution.

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What licensing changes for customers

Licensed operators must use stricter age and identity verification systems. These checks are part of the regulatory framework; they do not establish that a particular craps game is available, nor do they make the rules of a table uniform across providers. If you are comparing a casino’s claims, separate its regulatory status from the game’s terms and mechanics. A licence addresses the operator’s permission to provide the service and its conditions, not whether a specific wager suits your preferences.

Advertising is also constrained. During the transition, providers are prohibited from advertising online casino gambling to people in New Zealand. Advertising by licensed operators is permitted under tight rules, while sponsorships are prohibited. These limits are relevant when interpreting promotional material: visibility or a claim of availability is not, by itself, proof of a licence.

The legal framework therefore gives you a way to understand the market’s stages and the responsibilities of its regulators, but it does not provide a basis for naming a best online craps site or casino. For a New Zealand customer, the practical questions are whether the provider falls within the applicable transition provisions or holds the required licence once the regime is operational, and whether its stated conditions match the service being offered.

What the Rules Mean When You Choose How to Play

Your choices in craps sit within a sequence set by the table rules. If you are the shooter, you must have a wager on either the Pass Line or the Don’t Pass Line. That requirement determines which side of the main outcome you are backing; it does not let you alter the order in which the round proceeds.

The point sequence is the key constraint. Once a point is established, a Pass Line bet wins if the shooter rolls that same point again before a seven. If a seven appears first, the Pass Line bet loses. The point can be 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, so the number established changes what result the bet now needs. Your decision is therefore not simply whether to keep betting: it is whether the conditions attached to the line bet suit your intended exposure to that sequence.

This is why a claim that there is one best way to play craps needs qualification. The rules define how a wager resolves, but a player’s choice of side does not control which number the dice produce. Nor does being widely regarded as a skilled player establish a method that guarantees a favourable result. A useful decision is one you can explain in terms of the bet’s conditions: what outcome wins, what outcome loses, and whether you accept that exposure.

Keep the main line wager distinct from side bets and bonus bets. They are not interchangeable just because they appear on the same layout; side bets and bonus bets typically carry a higher house edge than regular bets. Treating them as separate decisions helps you see when you are adding a different wager rather than changing the terms of your line bet.

Before placing a bet, identify the stage of the round and the rule that will settle it. On the come-out roll, the point has not yet been set; after a point is established, the Pass Line bet is waiting for that number to return before seven. That simple check gives you a rule-based way to choose, without relying on a supposed universally best player or system.

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What a Free Craps Game Can Teach You About Simplified Rules

A free-play version of craps can make the basic link between a dice result and an outcome easier to see, provided you treat it as a lesson in the rules it actually uses. In the described Simplified Craps version, a roll of 7 or 11 is a win, while 2, 3 or 12 is a loss. The result is classified directly: those rolls do not require you to track an established point before deciding whether the round has won or lost.

That simple mapping is useful for checking whether you understand which results count as winning and losing rolls in this version. You can follow each throw and compare its result with the rule, rather than relying on a label or animation to tell you what happened. If the game presents the roll and outcome separately, pause on the result and work out the classification yourself before continuing.

The boundaries matter. These outcomes describe Simplified Craps; they should not be taken as a complete account of Bank Craps or every craps ruleset. A simplified game can demonstrate its stated win-and-loss conditions, but it does not, on that basis alone, show how a full pass-line round develops or how later bets work. Keep those rule systems separate when you move from a free game to another version.

A free game is therefore most useful when you use it to test a specific understanding: whether you can identify the stated winning rolls and losing rolls without confusing them. It is not evidence that the same result categories apply everywhere, and it cannot establish the quality of an app or predict what a real-money game will do. Read the rules displayed for the version in front of you, then judge each roll against those rules.

This gives you a narrow but practical learning task: recognise the outcomes that the simplified rules define, and notice when a different craps version has a different structure. The value lies in understanding the stated rule, not in treating a basic free game as a substitute for every form of craps.

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Published by the Casino Bonus Guide NZ team.