The Don’t Come Bet
| The Don’t Come Bet – the “Twin” of the Don’t Pass Wager
Unversed casino players are often reluctant to test their luck at the craps tables because the abundance of betting options confuses and intimidates them. Little do they know they are missing out on some of the best winning odds they can find on the casino floor. The Don’t Come bet poses a good example as it yields a house edge of less than one percent and a half. However, inexperienced gamblers often find it confusing as it usually requires multiple rolls to resolve.
Don’t Come bets are practically the opposite of Come bets and are almost identical to Don’t Pass wagers. The chief difference between the two results from the fact the former becomes available once the shooter establishes a point for the Pass Line after the come-out roll. Players also have the option to lay odds on their Don’t Come wagers to reduce the house edge.
Today’s article introduces you to everything you need to know about this basic craps wager. You will also find information about its payouts and house edge, alongside advice on further decreasing its house advantage and improving your long-term expected return with free odds. We finish off with several strategy tips on how to incorporate this type of wager into your craps sessions.
Basics of Come and Don’t Come Bets
The Come and Don’t Come bets are some of the most basic wagers in craps, along with the Pass and Don’t Pass bets. These are the first wagers craps players typically master, although they can be confusing at the beginning. Understanding how Pass and Don’t Pass bets work is instrumental as the entire foundation of the game is built around them.
Pass bets win if the initial roll of the dice produces a total of 7 or 11, and lose if the dice show craps numbers 2, 3, or 12 on the come-out roll. Almost the opposite applies to Don’t Pass bets as they lose to 7 and 11 and win when the shooter rolls 2 or 3 at the start of a round. A toss of 12 is a push for Don’t Pass wagers, which means they neither win nor lose. If any of the remaining numbers (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10) shows on the come-out roll, it becomes a point for the Pass Line and is marked by the dealer with a puck. Pass Line wagers remain on the layout and the shooter rolls again. In this scenario, the shooter must roll the point number before a 7 for Pass bets to win. If 7 occurs before the point number is thrown, Don’t Pass wagers win. Both Pass and Don’t Pass bets pay at even-money odds of 1 to 1.
Come and Don’t Come wagers are quite similar, the only difference being you cannot place them on the come-out roll. They can only be made after the shooter has established a point for the Pass Line. The winning criteria and payouts coincide with those for Pass and Don’t Pass wagers. The toss after Come and Don’t Come bets become available is treated as a come-out roll for the purposes of these two types of wager. Keep in mind that the point numbers for Come and Don’t Come bets may differ from the points for Pass and Don’t Pass wagers.
What is the Don’t Come Bet?
In theory, the Come and Don’t Come wagers are not so difficult to understand as they are very similar to Pass and Don’t Pass bets. The only difference is you never place them on the come-out roll but rather after a point is established for the Pass Line. Many players get confused as to when Come and Don’t Come wagers are actually available. After all, craps is a fast-paced game and novices find it hard to keep track of the rolls.
The simplest way to tell whether these bets are available is look at the layout. Each time the shooter throws a point number after the come-out roll, the dealer places a small white puck that reads “On” above this number on the layout. The puck is black and reads “Off” when a point is yet to be established for the Pass Line.
Don’t Come bets win if 2 or 3 is thrown on the first roll after the bet has been made. They lose if 7 or 11 is thrown, while 12 is considered a push, i.e. players neither win nor lose. This little detail has been introduced so that players do not gain an advantage over the casino. If any of the other numbers hits, it becomes a point for Come and Don’t Come bets. In this case, you need a 7 to show before the point number to win with a Don’t Come bet. If the point appears before the 7, you lose.
Here is an example. A 5 appears on the come-out roll and you place a Don’t Come wager. However, point number 5 is not relevant for your bet as you need 2 or 3 on the next roll to win. If the shooter throws 7 or 11, you lose. If the dice show 8, for example, this becomes the point for your Don’t Come bet. Your chips are moved to the area on the table corresponding to this new point number. If the dice land on 8, you lose. You will win only if the shooter rolls a 7 before an 8.
Don’t Come Bet Payout and House Edge
The outcomes in craps are governed by chance and are completely independent from one another. In other words, each toss is completely random and unaffected by the previous rolls of the dice. However, it is important to remember that the outcomes are based on mathematical probability and the likelihood of winning with a given bet can be calculated.. This is because there are only 36 possible dice combinations in the game.
It also makes it possible to calculate the true odds and house edges of the different bet types supported by the game. Both Don’t Pass and Don’t Come wagers both pay even money, which means your payout is equal to your bet. One of the best things about making Don’t Come bets is their low house edge, which translates into higher winning odds for the player. The edge is 1.36%, slightly lower than that for the Come Bet (1.41%). This means that, on average, players are expected to lose 1.36% of their bets over the long run. In other words, they will lose $1.36 per every $100 they wager.
This makes the Don’t Come bet a great option for all players looking for a way to optimize their game and reduce their losses. Still, people rarely place this wager as it involves betting against the table. Those who make it are sometimes called “wrong” players because the majority of people prefer placing Pass and Come bets which lose whenever Don’t Pass and Don’t Come bets win, and vice versa. If you place a Don’t Come wager, know that you will be probably betting against everyone else. This does not apply to online craps, of course. if you are playing a virtual version of the game, you will not have to put up with the complaints of other players.
Free Odds on Don’t Come Bets
Craps players can improve their expected return by laying odds on their Don’t Come bets. Odds bets, also known as Free Odds bets, are among the most advantageous wagers in this game because they are placed as separate, side bets, that essentially work as multiples of your original bet but have no house edge. They can be placed after a point has been established for a Pass/Don’t Pass and Come/Don’t Come wagers.
When you place a Don’t Come bet, you can ask the dealer to lay odds for you as this is not a self-service wager. When the point on your Don’t Come wager is determined, you place your chips near the Don’t Come area on the layout and with this Odds wager, you bet that 7 will be rolled before the point number. If your original bet wins, so does the Odds wager but the casino pays at true odds for the latter.
Usually, this bet can be one, two, or three times your original bet, although some landbased casinos offer odds of up to 100 times to attract more players to their craps tables. Odds bets are typically referred to as 1x Odds, 2x Odds, 3x Odds or and so on. For instance, the point on your $10 Don’t Come wager is 8 and if you lay 3x Odds, you must put chips worth $30 on the table. If 7 rolls before 8 (the point number), you receive even-money payout for the Don’t Come wager, plus a higher payout for the Free Odds bet.
The payouts for Odds wagers vary, depending on the established point number. When the point is 4 or 10, the payout is 2 to 1 (2:1). On points 5 and 9, Odds pay 3 to 2 (3:2), while on points of 6 and 8, these bets pay 6 to 5 (6:5). These wagers pay at true odds instead of at reduced house odds, which translates in higher returns for players in the long term. True odds reflect the real probabilities of winning and losing.
Free Odds bets win if the dice roll produces a 7 before the point, or 8 in the example above. There are six ways to roll a 7 compared to 5 ways to roll an 8, which means that this wager is more likely to win than lose. This ratio can be represented as 6 to 5, which corresponds to the payout for Odds laid on Don’t Come bets with a point of 8. As we can see, the payouts for Odds bets are fair and have no house edge. This favors the player, which is rarely the case in casino games. The higher the Odds bet, the better your expected return.
Another important thing to understand is that while with Pass/Come bets, players bet a small amount to win a bigger amount, with the Don’t Pass/Don’t Come bets, it is the other way round. You must place a larger Odds bet to win a smaller amount. This is because when you lay the Free Odds bet against the point number, you become the favorite as 7 is more likely to hit than the point. When your Don’t Come wager is $10 and you lay single odds, you will win another $10 for the original bet when 7 is rolled. If the point number is 10, your $10 Free Odds bet will bring you a win of $5 and you will receive $15.
Craps Strategy Using the Don’t Come Bet
As explained above, certain wagers in craps yield very low house edges, which makes it a great alternative to other gambling games where the casino has a huge advantage over players. Despite this, there are several “sucker” bets in craps where the house edge is significantly higher. The optimal strategy for craps includes placing one or more of the most basic bets, namely the Pass/Don’t Pass and Come/Don’t Come wagers. The Don’t Come bet, in particular, is one of the best options because it comes with a low house edge (1.36%) and you can place it at all times as long as a point has been established for the Pass Line.
To optimize their returns, players can combine Don’t Come wagers with other bets. The most obvious way to do this is by laying odds on your Don’t Come bet, as explained in the previous section. However, there is one essential aspect of this strategy players must understand properly, namely they must lay the highest odds available at a table to fully benefit from this option. The original bet, on the other hand, should be as small as possible. This is one of the most important tips in craps and applies to all bets that facilitate taking or laying odds.
If, for example, you plan on wagering $10 per round, you can place $2 on a Don’t Come bet and boost it with 4x odds for $8. The reason for this is very simple – while the Don’t Come bet offers a 1.36% house edge, the Odds bet has no house edge. Your expected losses when placing Don’t Come bets without free odds would be larger.
Another good strategy you can incorporate successfully is to combine Don’t Pass, Don’t Come, and Field bets. The Field box includes the three craps numbers (2, 3, 12) plus 4, 9, 10, and 11. A winning Field bet pays out differently, depending on the number that is rolled. It pays even money when 3, 4, 9, 10 or 11 is rolled; 2 to 1 if 2 is rolled and 3 to 1 if 12 hits. Combining these wagers enables players to cover more numbers and increases their chances of winning.
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