Before reading through the various bets that you can make at a Craps table, it's important to understand the probability of each possible outcome when rolling two dice. There are a total of 36 different possible outcomes when rolling two dice, with the most frequent being a roll of 7 (1 out of 6 odds). The opposite end of the spectrum are the two least frequent outcomes, which are rolls of 2 and 12 (1 out of 36 odds each). Have you ever wondered what the odds are of winning your Come-Out Roll? Simply add the odds of rolling a 7 (1 out of 6) with the odds of rolling an 11 (1 out of 18), and you'll determine that your odds of winning this bet are 2 out of 9. From the flip side, you might think that considering the fact that three different numbers will lose you the Come-Out Roll, that your odds of losing might be greater than winning. Let's examine this further: odds of rolling a 2 (1 out of 36) + odds or rolling a 3 (1 out of 18) + odds of rolling 12 (1 out of 36) = 1 out of 9. So in reality, you have a better chance of winning the Come-Out Roll than losing it.
What about the chances of winning a Pass Line bet versus those of a Don't Pass bet? On a first roll, the chances of winning a pass line bet are 2 out of 9, as opposed to the odds of winning a Don't Pass bet, which are 1 out of 9. Once a point has been established however, your chances of rolling this point again decrease by 1 out of 36. So for example, if you were to roll a 4, your chances of rolling another 4 would be only 1 out of 12. Your chances of rolling a 7 however are 1 out of 6, and so your chances of rolling a 4 before rolling a 7 are half. For a greater understanding of these probabilities, refer to the illustration to the right, which shows the probability of each possible outcome when rolling two dice.