Craps

See also Where to Play Craps Online?

Of all the games offered in casinos, craps is by far the fastest and, co many, the most exciting. It is a game in which large amounts of money can be won or lost in a short amount of time. The craps table is a circus of sound and movement. Yelling and screaming arc allowed - even encouraged - here, and the frenetic betting is bewildering to the uninitiated. Don't be intimidated, however; the basic game of craps is easy to understand. The confusion and insanity of craps have more to do with the pace of the game and the amazing number of betting possibilities than with the complexity of the game itself.

Playing craps can be a little Intimidating, but it is possible to play a simple game. Basically, bets are placed on what number will come up on a pair of dice thrown. You can place bets even If you're not the one throwing the dice. The following table shows how the 36 combinations stack up. 

Craps Combinations and Odds

Number Rolled	How many ways to roll that number	True Odds	Winning Combinations
Two	1	35 to 1
Three	2	17 to 1
Four	3	11 to 1
Five	4	8 to 1
Six	5	6.2 to 1
Seven	6	5 to 1
Eight	5	6.2 to 1
Nine	4	8 to 1
Ten	3	11 to 1
Eleven	2	17 to 1
Twelve	1	35 to 1

In craps, one player at a time controls the dice, but all players will eventually have an opportunity to roll or refuse the dice. Players take turns in a clockwise rotation. If you don't want the dice, shake your head, and the dealer will offer them to the next player.
All the players around the table are wagering either with or against the shooter, so the numbers he throws will determine the amount won or lost by every other player. The casino is covering all bets, and the players are not allowed to bet among themselves. Four casino employees run the craps table. The boxman in the middle is in charge of the game. His job is to oversee the other dealers, monitor the play, and examine the dice if they arc thrown off the table.

There are two dealers, one placed on each side of the boxman. They pay off the winners and collect the chips from the losers. Each dealer is in charge of half of the table.

The fourth employee is the stickman, so called because of a flexible stick he uses after each roll to retrieve the dice. His job, among other things, is to supply dice to the shooter and to regulate the pace of the game. When all bets are down, the stickman pushes several sets of dice toward the shooter. The shooter selects two dice, and the stickman removes the others from the table. Occasionally the stickman and boxman check the dice for signs of tampering.

The shooter then throws the dice hard enough to cause them to bounce off the wall at the far end of the table. This bounce ensures that each number on each die has an equal probability of coming up.
 

The Play. When it is your turn to throw the dice, pick out two and return the other to the stickman. After making a bet (required), you may throw the dice. You retain control of the dice until you throw a 7 ("seven out") or relinquish the dice voluntarily.

Your first roll, called the come-out roll, is the most important. If you roll a 7 or an 11 on your come-out roll, you are an immediate winner. In this case, you collect your winnings and retain possession of the dice. If your come-out roll is a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, that number becomes "the point." A marker (called a puck or buck) is placed in the correspondingly numbered box on the layout to identify the point for all players at the table. In order to win the game, this number (the point) will have to be rolled again before you roll a 7.

Thus, if you roll a 5 on your first roll, the number five becomes your point. It doesn't matter how long it takes you to roll another 5, as long as you don't roll a 7 first. As soon as you roll a 7, you lose, and the dice are passed to another player.

Let's say 5 is your point, and your second roll is a 4, your third roll is a 9, and then you roll another 5. You win because you rolled a 5 again without rolling a 7. Because you have not yet rolled a 7, you retain possession of the dice, and after making a bet, you may initiate a new game.

Your next roll is. once again, a come-out roll. Just as 7 or 1 1 arc immediate winners on a come-out roll, there are immediate losers, too. A roll of 2, 3, or 12 (all called "craps") will lose. You lose your chips, but you keep the dice because you have not yet rolled a 7.

If your first roll is 2, for example, it's craps, and you lose your bet. You place another bet and roll to come-out again. This time you roll a 5, so 5 becomes your point. Your second roll is a 4, your third is a 9, and then you roll a 7. The roll of 7 means that you lose and the dice will be passed to the next player.

This is the basic game of craps. The confounding blur of activity is nothing more than players placing various types of bets with or against the shooter, or betting that a certain number will or will not come up on the next roll of the dice.

The Betting. Of the dozens of bets that can be made at a dice table, only two or three should even be considered by a novice crap player. Keeping your bets simple makes it easier to understand what's going on, while at the same time minimizing the house advantage. Exotic, long-shot bets, offering payoffs as high as 30 to 1, are sucker bets and should be avoided.

The pass line bet.
You should stick with the pass line bet if you're a beginner. When playing this type of bet, you place your initial bet on the "pass line," which means that you are betting that the player will not crap out. A roll of 7 or 11, or establishing a point number and rolling it before a 7, wins double your bet. Here's an example to help you out: Say that you place your bet on the pass line. After you place it on the pass line, you can't touch it until you win or lose. The shooter rolls a 4. This is now the point. The next roll is a 5 and then a 10. Finally, on the fourth throw, the shooter rolls a 4 and you win. If that fourth throw had turned up a 7, you would have lost.

The don't pass bar bet.
The don't pass bar bet, placed on the "don't pass bar," is exactly the opposite of the pass bet. You're betting that the shooter will crap out before winning. If the shooter rolls a 7 or 11, or establishes and then makes a point number, you lose a don't pass bet. If the shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12, or craps out before making his point, then you win double.

The come bet.
You place a come bet after the shooter establishes a point number. For example, say the shooter throws a 6 on his first throw. That is the point number, and placing a bet in the "come" field is now just like a pass-line bet. You are wagering that the next throw of the dice will be 7 or 11. If it is, you win double. If the next throw is a 2, 3, or 12, you lose. If it is any other number, the bet is moved into the corresponding box (4, 5, 6,8, 9, or 10), where it remains until the shooter either rolls the number again (you win) or rolls a 7 (you lose).

The don't come bet.
The don't come bet, placed on the "don't come bar," is the pessimists' version of the come bet: You win double if the throw is 2, 3, or 12, and lose if it is a 7 or 11. If any other number appears (4, 5, 6, 8,9, or 10), you win if a 7 is thrown before that number is repeated, but lose if it is not.

The place bet.
To make a place bet, put your chips in the "place bets" field above any number. You are betting that the number will be rolled before a 7 is rolled. You can increase, decrease, or remove your bet entirely at any time during play.

Odds bets. When you bet the pass/don't pass or the come/don't come, you may place an odds bet in addition to your original bet.
Once it is established that the come-out roll is not a 7 or 11, or craps, the bettor may place a bet that will be paid off according to the actual odds of a particular number being thrown.

Note that the Actual-odds Chart shows the chances against a number made by two dice being thrown. For example, the odds of making a 9 are three to two. If you place an odds bet (in addition to your original bet) on a come number of 9, your original come bet will pay off at even money, but your odds bet will pay off at three to two.

Because this would make a $7.50 payoff for a $5 bet, and the tables don't carry 50-cent chips, you are allowed to place a $6 bet as an odds bet. This is a very good bet to make, and betting the extra dollar is to your advantage.

To place an odds bet on a line bet, bet the pass line. When (and if) the point is established, put your additional bet behind the pass line and say, "Odds."

To place an odds bet on a come bet, wait for the dealer to move your chips to the come number box, then hand him more chips and say, "Odds." He will set these chips half on and half off the other pile so that he can see at a glance that it's an odds bet.

The Hard Way, Big 6, Big 8, Field, and Proposition bets make up the remainder of the gaming table. If you win on one of these bets, you can win big; but these bets are, according to most people, not worth the effort, because the odds are against you in every single case.

• The Hard Way bets wager that 4, 6,8, or 10 will be rolled, with one catch: The numbers must come up on the dice as double numbers (two 2s, 3s, 4s, or 5s, depending on which box you choose), and the combination has to appear before the number is thrown in any other combination or before a 7 appears.
• The Big 6 and Big 8 bets say that the shooter will throw a 6 or 8 before a 7 appears - the same as a place bet but with lower payback odds.
• A Field bet wagers that the next throw of the dice will be a 2, 3,4, 9, 10, 11, or 12, which are the seven least likely numbers to appear. This bet is based on one single roll of the dice; avoid it if you're a beginner.
• Proposition bets say that the next roll will be either 2, 3, 7,11, or 12 (there's a box for each), or any craps (2, 3, or 12). This bet is also based on one single roll of the dice and, again, should be avoided if you're a beginner.