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Step 1
Start with some basics. In craps, two dice are thrown, with each possessing six sides and each side representing a number from 1 to 6.
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Step 2
Understand that if you're tempted to think that there are twelve possible combinations that can come up on a roll, you would be incorrect.
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Step 3
Pull out the permutation rule from high school. The actual probability of combinations that can be rolled from a pair of dice is 36 and not 12. Why? Because there are 6 sides to each die, and six times six equals 36, not 12.
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Step 4
Go a step further to calculate the betting odds on rolling a certain number. Let's say you were betting odds on rolling a 7. How many ways can you roll a 7 with 2 die? First, there are 3 possible ways to get a sum of 7 from the numbers 1 to 6: 1 + 6, 2 + 5 and 3 + 4. However, because you're throwing two dice in craps, you would multiply 3 by 2 to obtain six possible ways to roll a 7 with a pair of dice.
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Step 5
Use the same strategy to calculate a probable payoff with the odds. For instance, let's use 7 again as our example. To calculate your likelihood of rolling a 7 at any given time, you would take the total number of possible outcomes to roll a 7 (six) and divide it by the total number of possible outcomes from two die (36), then multiply by 100. The result is a 16.6 percent chance of rolling a 7.
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Step 6
Learn more about how to calculate payoff odds for place bets and passline bets online at the Craps Pit (see Resources below).
