Craps Don't Pass & Lay Odds: Betting Against the Shooter

Master Don't Pass and Lay Odds in online craps. Learn how betting against the shooter works, True Odds payouts, and Canadian rules.

Published: September 22, 2026

Most people at a craps table want the shooter to win. It is louder, more social, and feels natural. But online craps gives you instant access to the exact opposite approach: the Don’t Pass Line and Don’t Come Bets. In casino talk, this is playing the “Don’t” side, and it makes you a “wrong bettor.” In plain English, you are putting your money on the 7 showing up before the shooter can hit their Point – the mirror image of the Pass Line bet that anchors most of our other craps guides.

If you play online in Canada, this side of the felt comes with its own math, distinct payouts, and a few rules you need to know before putting chips down.

How the Don’t Pass Works at Each Stage

A Don’t Pass wager behaves differently depending on whether the game is starting fresh or chasing a Point:

Comeout Roll (Puck OFF): Put your chips on the “Don’t Pass Bar.” On this first roll, a 2 or 3 pays you even money (1:1). A 7 or 11 wipes your bet out instantly. If the dice show a 12, it is a push (a tie marked “Bar 12” on the felt), so the software simply hands your original bet back.
Setting the Point: Hit a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, and that number becomes the Point for the round.
Intermediate Roll (Puck ON): The moment that Point is locked in, the statistical advantage swings hard to your side. You want a 7. If the 7 hits before the shooter repeats that Point number, you get paid. If the Point rolls first, your bet loses.

Laying Odds: Risking More to Win Less

Once the puck turns ON, you can back your original bet with Lay Odds. Here is where beginners get confused. When you take odds on the Pass Line, you bet less to win more. Lay Odds work in reverse: you risk more to win less. Why? Because the math is on your side. A 7 has six different dice combinations, making it far more likely to roll than any specific Point on the board.

Just like regular odds, Lay Odds pay True Odds with zero house edge:

4 and 10: Lay $2 to win $1 (1:2).
5 and 9: Lay $3 to win $2 (2:3).
6 and 8: Lay $6 to win $5 (5:6).

Take a concrete example. Say you have a $10 Don’t Pass bet and the Point settles on 4. You decide to lay $20 in Odds behind it. When the 7 lands before the 4, your flat bet pays $10 and your $20 Lay Odds brings in another $10. Add in your original money, and you pull in $40 CAD total, with $20 of that being clean profit.

Pulling Chips Off the Board

A regular Pass Line bet becomes a locked contract the second a Point is established. You cannot touch it. The Don’t Pass does not work that way. Online software will let you lower or completely pull down your Don’t Pass and Don’t Come wagers at any point during the intermediate roll.

You can do it, but you shouldn’t. Once you survive that tricky Comeout Roll, the odds favor you. Taking your chips down mid-round simply gives a huge mathematical edge right back to the casino.

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