Don’t pass betting in dice is one of the least used bets that can be made in a casino. There are several reasons for this lack of popularity of a don’t pass bet. The first and most obvious is it goes against the bulk of the crowd at the table as most bettors at a craps table are betting for the shooter to make points. Don’t players are also not very popular with the other players. Another reason is odds on don’t bets take more money than pass bet odds.
A dice game offers the best odds for a player if they are willing to bet properly. Proper betting means taking or putting up the odds on a shooter’s point. The house edge in a dice game is higher on the pass side than the don’t side. The edge is just over a tenth of a percent better on the don’t side. The house edge is 1.414 on the pass line and 1.402 on the don’t pass bet. This doesn’t look like much, but it is over time. In order to get this edge as low as possible the player must give or take the odds. That is the rub for the don’t player.
Let’s say the point is ten. The pass line bettor can take the odds and get paid 2 to 1 on their money if the ten repeats before the seven shows. The don’t bettor has to put up the payoff as odds and will only get half the money put up if the seven shows first. In the first case the bettor put up $10 to win $20 when the ten shows before the seven. In the don’t pass scenario the bettor had to put up the $20 to win $10 when the seven shows first. This odds differential of bet size is what stops many players from playing the don’t side. It is hard for many to put up 20 to win 10. If the table is running cold, then this is exactly what the bettor should be doing in order to get the best odds and lower the house edge on the game. All of the other point numbers are played the same way, except the don’t bet is smaller as the odds are less than two to one. The expert dice player wants to be on the right side of a table trend and the trend tells the player whether to take or give the odds.
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