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How to Determine the House Edge in a Craps Game

If you've ever played a craps game, you've probably heard people talking about the house edge. You've probably also heard the saying, "The house always wins." This is not necessarily true. While the house does have an advantage over the players and takes a percentage of bets, its "edge" fluctuates. To beat the house, you'll need to calculate what that edge is at certain points during the game.

Basics of the Calculation

To calculate the house edge, you need to figure out what total percentage the house will be taking from each bet. The higher the percentage, the bigger the house's advantage, so save your best bets for those craps tables with the lowest edge percentage. The calculation itself can be completed by determining the probability of rolling a certain dice combination and weighing that against the possible winnings.

Example

The calculation itself is fairly basic. Let's pretend you've calculated the probability of a certain roll to be 1 to 8. This means that if you place eight bets, you have a probability of winning once and losing seven times. The house edge would be the reverse--they are winning every time you lose. In this case, especially in high roller craps games, you stand to lose a lot of money.

Calculating a house edge can help you determine whether or not you should stay at a table or move on to one where the stakes and the edge are a bit lower. In turn, this will help you avoid some major financial losses.