Craps side-bet guide · Reviewed August 18, 2026
Fire Bet is an optional multi-game wager on one shooter making at least four different point numbers before sevening out. Repeated points do not add to the count. On the common 25/250/1000-for-1 sample paytable, the house edge is about 20.76%.
Sam’s verdict
Fire Bet turns a memorable hand into a lottery-style side bet. The top payoff is exciting, but six unique points occur only about once in 6,156 shooter hands under the standard model. Treat it as a fixed entertainment expense if it is offered at all.
How Fire Bet works
- Place the wager before a new shooter establishes the initial point, within the table’s timing rule.
- The shooter must establish and make different points from 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10.
- Making the same point again does not increase the unique count.
- Come-out 7, 11, 2, 3, or 12 does not by itself seven-out the shooter.
- A 7 after a point is established ends the shooter’s hand and settles the Fire Bet at the highest tier reached.
Approved procedures may relocate player wagers to numbered tracking circles and use markers for completed unique points. Once accepted, the wager remains until it loses or pays; it is not a wager to add after watching the hand become successful.
Repeated points and order
If the shooter makes 5 twice, only one unique point is recorded. The six points can be made in any order. A sequence of made 5, 9, 5, 4, and 8 contains four unique points—5, 9, 4, and 8—even though five points were made.
Sample paytables
| Unique points | Sample A | Legacy sample B |
|---|---|---|
| 0–3 | No payout | No payout |
| 4 | 25 for 1 | 10 for 1 |
| 5 | 250 for 1 | 200 for 1 |
| 6 | 1,000 for 1 | 2,000 for 1 |
“For 1” includes the original wager in the stated return. Only the highest tier reached is paid, not the sum of lower tiers. Fire paytables are not universal; read the posted version.
Exact unique-point probabilities
| Highest unique count before seven-out | Probability | Approximate frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Exactly 4 | 0.8798% | 1 in 114 |
| Exactly 5 | 0.1640% | 1 in 610 |
| All 6 | 0.01624% | 1 in 6,156 |
| At least 4 | 1.0601% | 1 in 94 |
These figures model standard point establishment and point-versus-7 resolution with independent fair dice. They explain why repeating a point adds excitement but no progress to the side bet.
Where the probabilities come from
Point 4/10 has three establishment combinations, 5/9 has four, and 6/8 has five. After establishment, that point competes with six combinations of 7. A made point returns the shooter to another come-out; seven-out ends the Fire sequence.
The calculation tracks which unique points are already made. Repeating one returns to the same state; making a new one advances the count. This avoids treating all point numbers as equally likely to be established and completed.
House edge by sample paytable
| Paytable | Calculated house edge | Expected loss per $5 wager |
|---|---|---|
| 25 / 250 / 1,000 for 1 | About 20.76% | About $1.04 |
| 10 / 200 / 2,000 for 1 | About 25.92% | About $1.30 |
A previous version advised waiting for a “scorching hot” table, but Fire must be placed before the relevant shooter develops a record, and earlier shooters do not predict the next shooter’s hand.
Worked shooter history
| Game | Result | Unique count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Point 5 made | 1 |
| 2 | Come-out 7 | Still 1 |
| 3 | Point 9 made | 2 |
| 4 | Point 5 made again | Still 2 |
| 5 | Point 4 made | 3 |
| 6 | Point 8 made | 4 |
| 7 | Point 10 established; 7-out | Settle at 4 |
Under Sample A, settlement returns 25 for 1. Point 10 does not count because it was established but not made, and lower tiers are not added together.
Questions players ask
- Join after two points? No under standard timing.
- Come-out 7 lose? No; only a loser 7 after a point ends the sequence.
- Repeated point reset? No, but it adds no unique progress.
- Take it down? It remains until loss or payout.
- All paytables equal? No; the legacy samples have materially different edges.
No-rolls, come-out sevens and shooter changes
A declared no-roll is not a completed point or seven-out. A legal come-out 7 does not end the shooter’s hand, so it does not settle Fire as a loss. Voluntary or compulsory surrender of the dice, late bets, marker verification, and successor-shooter handling follow the approved local rules; ask the crew rather than relying on a story from another casino.
Responsible way to treat the wager
- Check whether Fire is offered and read the exact paytable.
- Choose a fixed amount before the new shooter begins.
- Do not chase earlier Fire losses with a larger next wager.
- Do not blame a shooter for a no-roll or seven-out; the wager is your decision.
So glad you posted something on this bet. I was in a Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe, and saw people playing this side bet, but I didn’t know what it was. I figured it out later (and I didn’t ask). I messed up in this case (maybe… there were a lot of 7s taking down those bets along the way). The lady with no real dice tossing “technique” (if it helps any to begin with) just kept on rolling for a long time. My normal pass line, odds, and place bets were doing fine. She not only hit all 6 points, but repeated several before finally rolling a 7. One person even placed a $2 bet for the shooter, and another $2 for the crew. They paid out $16K (1000X for hitting all 6). They stopped the table for a while when they got the tax forms out. It was wonderful to see, and would have paid for my trip.
Don’t we all love those tax forms lol. Maybe next time you can be the one filling them out. Good luck at the tables and thank you for sharing the story.