Tips for Surviving a Long Craps Session

If you picture the casino game that offers the most excitement, the one played by glamorous men in tuxedos while beautiful women cheer them on (or the other way around, of course), then chances are, you’re picturing the craps table.

While craps can be as exciting as your wildest mental picture of James Bond movies, it can also trample your bankroll into the mud. So whether you are playing at a real money online casino or your favorite brick-and-mortar gambling hall, you must adhere to some basic strategies when playing craps.

In this guide, our table games experts will show you how to weather those storms and survive marathon craps sessions (without having to hock your tux along the way).

🎲 Manage your craps bankroll like a shooter

One of the best ways to ensure you will be able to spend all night rolling them bones or playing any other casino game, like blackjack, for that matter, is by properly managing your bankroll. Bankroll management may not sound sexy, but it’s still a lot sexier than slinking away broke while everyone else keeps having fun. 

A smart way to do this is by dividing your bankroll into “shooting units,” in which each unit represents a round of play.

Aim for about 10-12 rounds per night. So, if you bring $600 to the casino, you should have about $50-60 buy-ins per shooter cycle. Use smaller chips to spread out your bets as well.

It also helps to color up as you go to protect your smaller wins. You may not think anything of splashing around with $5 chips, but you may hesitate before breaking up a $100 one, and that could be the difference between losing and winning at the end of the day.

Another great way to boost your bankroll is by claiming a generous casino bonus that will give you more money to wager.

🔴 Stick to low house-edge craps bets

Another great way to stretch your bankroll is by sticking to bets that have the lowest house edge. These are the Pass Line, Don’t Pass, Come, and Don’t Come bets. They vary between a 1.36% and 1.41% house edge.

Compare that to “sucker bets” like Field, Big 6/8, Hardways, and Proposition bets, which have house edges ranging from 2.78% all the way up to 16.67%, and you can see how making bad wagers can quickly eat through your bankroll.

You should take odds when available as well, as these bets have zero house edge.

A $10 Pass Line bet with $20 odds (49.3% win probability) beats a $15 Yo bet (5.6% win probability) every time. This isn't like playing at a free spins casino, where the spins are, well, free. You have to be mindful of your bets when playing craps since every throw of the dice matters. A lot. 

🟢 Control bet size and pressing

Craps players love pressing their bets (or increasing bet sizes after winning). This is fun and exciting, but it can also backfire.

A better strategy is to press gradually over multiple hits rather than every single time. Also, if the table goes cold, switch to flat Pass Line bets until things start heating up again.

It may not be as exciting as ramping up your wagers, but being disciplined in bet sizing is the best way to ensure you can play all night long. Cue the Lionel Ritchie track. But, don't sing along too loudly since you'll need to adhere to Las Vegas craps etiquette, and belting out 80s tunes at the top of your lungs is strictly frowned upon. 

🔵 Pace yourself at the craps rail

Part of the reason why craps is so exciting is because it’s so kinetic; dice are always flying through the air, people are always cheering and chips are always flying.

That’s great, but it can also create pressure to play every single roll. You don’t have to do that; feel free to take a round or two off every now and then.

You can also walk away from the table entirely. Go get some water and take a walk. Having a clear head will go a long way towards ensuring you also have money in your pocket when you leave the casino.

If you're playing craps on your phone at the best online casino app, it's even easier to take a break. Just put your phone away for a few minutes and come back to the game when you're ready. 

🚶 Know when to walk away

The hardest thing to do at a craps table isn’t to roll snake eyes; it’s to walk away at the right time.

Whether this means protecting a win or just limiting your losses, knowing when to leave the table is an incredibly important skill. Set stop-loss and win goals beforehand and stick to them.

Also, don’t let superstition cloud your judgment. Yes, the shooter may be hot right now, but the dice have no memory, and they don’t care about streaks.

🧠 Mental survival at a craps table

There’s nothing more important than staying cool at the table, whether you've set aside $100 for your craps budget or you actually are James Bond and have a lot more to play with. If you can ignore peer pressure to ramp up your bets or keep playing, you’ll have a much better chance of coming out ahead.

Also, stay cool even when variance is having its way with you. There will be extended cold streaks, just like there will be long periods when the dice just don’t miss. Keep a level head through both.

⭐ Conclusion

Whether you are playing in person or online at a real money or sweepstakes casino, coming out on top at the craps table requires stamina, strategy, and discipline. You’ll need to manage your bankroll carefully, avoid losing your cool, and make the smartest bets possible every time.

Do this, and you’ll look like the coolest cat in the casino. Fail, and you’ll be just another sad sack at the bar with a story about cruel dice and 7s that hit out of nowhere.