Question of the Day - 06 July 2024

We sure can. We get this question from time to time; we lasted answered it in 2022. And the excellent feedback that answer received is incorporated into this one. 

Far from being new, Crapless Craps has been around for nearly 100 years. Stewart Ethier, whom many QoD readers know as our go-to gambling mathematician, historian, and scholar, noted that though Bob Stupak trademarked Crapless Craps at Vegas World in 1981, the game was mentioned in Scarne on Dice (1945) and in Sham's Handbook on Percentages (1930), where the house edge was correctly calculated. Sham called it "everything a point."

Crapless is similar to the traditional game, with a few key differences that make it slightly worse for the player than regular craps.

Stewart also provides a quick summary of Crapless: The game turns 2, 3, and 12 from automatic losers to likely losers and it turns 11 from an automatic winner to a likely loser.

To elaborate, the 2, 3, 11, and 12 are points; in other words, there are no craps, so you can’t lose on the comeout roll. But you don’t win on the 11; the only way the comeout is paid off is on the 7. With the 11 out of the running, even with the risk of losing on a roll of 2, 3, or 12, the house edge on the Crapless Craps comeout is 5.38%, worse than roulette and much much worse than regular craps (1.4%).

Single odds reduce the edge to 2.94%; you have to take 5X odds to get it down to around 1%. Problem is, most versions allow only 2X odds, except on the 2 and 12 (these bets pay out at 6-to-1) and 3 and 11 (3-to-1); some versions offer slightly different options and, thus, have different house percentages.

For another, you’ve got the four extra points, but those aren’t exactly a reason to count your winnings in advance. For the 2 and 12, only one combination of the dice earn out, as opposed to six combinations for the 7. At regular craps, any action on the 2 or 12 is a sucker bet (with an edge of 7.1% to 14.3%, depending). The odds don’t get much better for the 3 or 11 (6%-10%); again, these numbers depend on the rules.

Okay, but why don’t players just bet on the don’t pass? Good question. The reason is, it’s not allowed. There’s no “wrong” betting in Crapless Craps.

The best bet at Crapless Craps is placing the 6 or 8 (1.52%).

The main attraction of Crapless Craps is that you can’t lose on the comeout, so you have action for at least two rolls. Also, there’s the novelty effect, with some different longshot options.

Also according to Stewart, a version of crapless craps, No-Crap Craps, avoids this game's drawbacks. Like Crapless, at No-Crap, you can't lose on the comeout roll, yet you don't have the disadvantages of the higher house edge and no don't betting. Instead of points 2, 3, 11, and 12, the points are 2-or-3 and 11-or-12.  If you roll a 2 on the comeout, you can make that point by rolling a 2 or 3 before a 7. The house edge is 1.4%. And there is a don't pass.

No-Crap Craps is a patented game that's approved by Nevada Gaming Control Board, but you rarely see it on casino floors. Crapless is much better known and, of course better for the casino; otherwise, with the same basic house edge as regular craps, there's really no reason to offer the variation.