The Come Bet in Craps: How It Works, What It Pays, When to Make It

Pays

1 to 1

House edge

1.41%

Decided by

Several rolls

Can be made

After the point is set

How the come bet works on its first roll

Think of the Come box as a second pass line that only opens once a point is on. Drop a chip there and the next roll is that chip’s personal come-out. A 7 or 11 pays even money on the spot. A 2, 3 or 12 loses it. Any other total becomes the chip’s own point.

Nothing about the original pass line changes. The two bets run side by side and can pull in opposite directions on the same roll. A 7 that wins your fresh come bet also sevens out the pass line, so the table groans while the dealer pays your Come chip. Mid-hand, that is a rare seven for a right-side bettor.

The come line in numbers

The chances match a come-out roll exactly: 22.22% of first rolls win at once, 11.11% lose, and 66.67% send the chip to a number. Because the math is identical, the house edge is identical too, 1.414%. The average one takes about 3.4 rolls to settle, the same as a pass line bet.

How a come bet travels to a number

Say the shooter rolls a 9 while your $10 sits in the Come box. The dealer picks the chip up and moves it into the 9 box, setting it in a spot that matches where you stand at the rail. That position is how the dealer knows the chip is yours when the 9 shows up again.

From that moment the chip lives on the 9. A 9 wins even money, and the dealer returns the chip and its winnings to the Come area in front of you. A 7 loses it. Every other number, including the table point itself, passes over it without effect. Several come bets can sit on different numbers at once.

Like the pass line, it becomes a contract bet once it has moved. You cannot pick it up again, because it now faces a number that is harder to roll than a seven. You can make another on the next roll, though, and many players stack two or three of them to cover several numbers.

Come bet versus place bet

A place bet puts you on a number directly and skips the traveling roll. The trade-off is price: place bets on the 6 or 8 cost 1.52% and on the 4 or 10 cost 6.67%, while the Come box costs 1.41% wherever the chip lands. You give up choosing the number and get a lower price in return.

Odds on a come bet, and why they are off on the come-out

Once your chip reaches a number you can add odds. Hand chips to the dealer and say odds on the 9, for example. The dealer stacks them on your flat chip, slightly offset. They pay true odds, 3 to 2 on a 9, and carry no house edge, just like the odds bet behind the pass line.

Here is the quirk that trips newcomers. When the shooter makes the point and a new come-out begins, odds on come bets switch off by default. The flat chips stay live, but the odds sit out that single roll. Nobody announces it, so anyone who has never seen it is often surprised when the seven arrives.

The convention protects right-side players. A seven on the come-out wins the new pass line bets, and nobody on the pass line wants the same roll to wipe out their come odds. So that seven takes your flat come bets but hands the odds back. Say odds working before the roll if you would rather keep them in action.

Don’t come, the mirror image of the come bet

The Don’t Come box does the opposite job. Its first roll wins on a 2 or 3, loses on a 7 or 11 and pushes on a 12. Then the chip moves behind a number and wins if a seven arrives first. The edge is 1.36%, a shade lower, for the same reason the Don’t Pass costs less.

Lay odds on a Don’t Come chip follow the opposite convention to come odds: in most casinos they stay working through the come-out. A seven on that roll is good news for a don’t come bettor, so nothing needs protecting. The dealer will confirm the house rule if you ask before the dice go out.

Three come bet hands, chip by chip

A Come chip that wins on its first roll

The point is 5. You put $10 in the Come box and the shooter rolls an 11. The dealer pays $10 straight away and the bet is finished, won in a single roll. The pass line bet on the 5 is untouched and still needs another 5. Drop a fresh $10 in the box if you want more.

A come bet that travels and takes odds

The point is 4. Your $10 Come chip sees an 8, so it moves to the 8 box. You hand over $25 and say odds on the 8. Three rolls later the 8 repeats. The flat bet pays $10 and the odds pay $30 at 6 to 5, $40 in winnings, and your $35 comes back too.

Caught by a come-out seven

The shooter makes the point of 4 while you have a $10 come bet with $20 odds sitting on the 9. Now it is a come-out roll and your odds are off. The shooter throws a 7. The pass line wins, your flat $10 on the 9 loses, and the dealer slides the $20 of odds back to you untouched.

That third hand is why the default is worth understanding. With the odds working, the seven would have taken $30 instead of $10. On the other hand, a 9 on that roll would have paid only the flat bet: $10 rather than the $40 it pays with odds on. Most regulars leave the default alone and take the smaller swing.

When to make a come bet, and how many

The Come box suits a player who wants more than one number working at the cheap line-bet price. Two come bets on top of a pass line bet is a common pattern, and it forms the basis of the 3-point Molly. The pattern itself earns nothing extra; it spreads the same 1.41% edge over more money.

Online, the Come box behaves as it does in a pit. Licensed tables in New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia track the moved bet for you, which removes any doubt about where a dealer set your chip. Before your first roll, check the game’s rules panel to see how it handles come odds on the come-out.

Every extra Come chip is more money exposed to one seven-out. With a pass line and two come bets, each backed by 3x odds, a single seven after the point takes the lot. Size your odds for the total exposure rather than per bet, and use the bankroll management guide to set a stop before the first chip goes down.