Craps is a dice game in which players place wagers on the outcome of the roll, or a series of rolls, of a pair of dice. Players may wager money against each other (street craps, also known as shooting dice or rolling dice) or a bank (casino craps, also known as table craps). A player designated the shooter then flings the dice to the opposite wall of the table. If the come-out roll is 7 or 11, Pass bets win and Don't Pass bets lose. If the come-out roll is 2, 3, or 12, that's craps, and Pass bets lose. Don't Pass bets win on 2 or 3, but 12 is 'barred'; Don't Pass bets neither win nor lose if the come-out roll is 12.
- An even money bet, made on the first roll of the dice (known as the 'come out roll'). You win if a 7 or 11 roll, or lose if 2, 3, or 12 roll (known as 'craps'). Any other number that rolls becomes the 'point' and the point must roll again before a 7 to win.
- In craps the odds are such that when you are required to avoid a seven, it is the number most likely to appear. Switching in a single dice can still reduce the house's chances of winning,.
I've written previous posts in this series about craps — that examined the staff at the craps table and the equipment used to play (the dice and the table). This post is the 1st one in which I discuss the nuts and bolts of how to play a craps game in a casino.
Part 3 of 6
- 1 The Craps Dealers and Other Staff at the Dice Table: Who's Who
- 2 How the Craps Table Layout Works and How the Dice Work
- 4 The Best and Worst Craps Bets You Can Make
- 5 Craps Bets Ranked According to House Edge
- 6 How (and Why) to Act Like a Craps Player
I've seen other pages that explain how to play craps, and some of them are very good indeed. I hope, though, that this post will include a level of detail heretofore unseen on the internet as it relates to how to play craps.
First Things First
You walk up to a craps table that's just opened for action. A few other players join you. Maybe a class on how to play craps just finished—casinos usually hold those earlier in the day and then open up a table immediately afterward.
You and your new companions will start by buying in. You'll put cash on the table and get chips in exchange. Once everyone has bought in, the stickman will give the dice to the player on his left. Dice is like cards, by the way.
If you don't go broke 1st, you'll get a chance to roll the dice, too. Don't worry about that. You just have to wait your turn.
Also, you and the other players aren't required to roll the dice. You can always pass on that, for any reason you want to. No one will give you a hard time about it, either.
The player gets to choose 2 dice from the 6 or 8 dice he's given. Once she picks those dice up, the stickman puts the other dice away until there's a new shooter. (They go in a dice tray.)
But the game still can't start, because no one has placed a bet yet. Actually, though, at a real craps table, bets will have been made already. I just haven't mentioned that yet.
Usually, players will start by making pass bets and don't pass bets. You'll see a lot more pass bets than don't pass bets, too.
In this case, 'pass' means for the dice to win. 'Don't pass' means for the dice to lose.
If you read my previous post about the table layout, you'll already know where those bets go on the table. In fact, those are bets you can place on the table yourself, as opposed to some of the bets where the dealers have to place the bet on your behalf.
But you're not limited to just those 2 options. You can bet on the field. You can bet on big 6. You can bet on big 8. You can even place a proposition bet in the center of the table.
One Roll Bets
It seems appropriate at this point in the discussion to point out the different kinds of bets available. Bets like pass and don't pass are multiple roll bets. They stay in action as the dice are rolled repeatedly until they're resolved.
The proposition bets, and some of the other bets, like the field bet, are one roll bets. These are bets made on the outcome of the very next roll. They win or lose based on what happens on that roll. They don't stay on the table.
The Come Out Roll Is When the Action Starts
The 1st roll a new shooter makes is called 'the come out roll.' If she rolls a 7 or an 11 on the come out roll, the dice win. Anyone who placed a bet on the pass line gets paid off at even money. Anyone who bet on don't pass loses their bet, and their money gets collected.
But if the shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12 on the come out roll, the pass line bet is an immediate loser. This is called 'crapping out.' Those totals—2, 3, and 12—are 'craps.' The don't pass line, though, MIGHT be a winner.
Remember when I discussed the layout and how the don't pass bet includes the words 'bar 12' or 'bar 2?'
This means that if the shooter rolls a 12 (or a 2, depending on what the layout says), the don't pass bet doesn't win any money. Instead, it's treated as a 'push' or a 'tie.' You get your money back, but you don't get any winnings with it.
Any other total sets a point. The possible points are 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10.
If the shooter doesn't set a point, she gets to keep the dice and continue to roll. It doesn't matter if the dice won or lost on the come out roll. And any time the shooter hasn't set a point, the next roll is always a new come out roll.
But if a point number has been rolled, the shooter keeps rolling until she either:
- Rolls the point number again. (In which case, the dice win.)
- Rolls a 7. (In which case, the dice lose.)
If the dice win, the shooter keeps the dice and continues to shoot. Also, the pass line bets pay off at even money.
If the dice lose, the next person to the left of the shooter gets a turn as shooter. Also, the don't pass bets pay off at even money.
After this action is completed, there's a new come out roll, regardless of whether or not there's a new shooter.
That's the basics of craps right there—the come out roll and whether the dice win or lose. Sometimes they win or lose on the first roll; sometimes there are subsequent throws which determine whether they win or lose.
But the other bets are whether the casino really cleans up.
Summarizing the Action
It helps to think of craps as being a game played in rounds. Each round starts with a come out roll.
The dice can win or lose immediately on the come out roll. If you roll a 7 or an 11, that's an immediate win. If you roll a 2, 3, or 12, that's an immediate loss.
Any other number sets a point. In that case, the shooter continues rolling the dice until she either rolls a 7 or the point again. If she rolls a 7 before rolling the point, the dice lose. If she rolls the point before rolling the 7, the dice win.
The pass bet pays off at even money when the dice win.
The don't pass bet pays off even money (or pushes) when the dice lose. The only time it's a push is when a 12 is rolled on the come out roll. (Or if a 2 is roller in a casino that says 'Bar 2' instead of 'Bar 12.')
I've written previous posts in this series about craps — that examined the staff at the craps table and the equipment used to play (the dice and the table). This post is the 1st one in which I discuss the nuts and bolts of how to play a craps game in a casino.
Part 3 of 6
- 1 The Craps Dealers and Other Staff at the Dice Table: Who's Who
- 2 How the Craps Table Layout Works and How the Dice Work
- 4 The Best and Worst Craps Bets You Can Make
- 5 Craps Bets Ranked According to House Edge
- 6 How (and Why) to Act Like a Craps Player
I've seen other pages that explain how to play craps, and some of them are very good indeed. I hope, though, that this post will include a level of detail heretofore unseen on the internet as it relates to how to play craps.
First Things First
You walk up to a craps table that's just opened for action. A few other players join you. Maybe a class on how to play craps just finished—casinos usually hold those earlier in the day and then open up a table immediately afterward.
You and your new companions will start by buying in. You'll put cash on the table and get chips in exchange. Once everyone has bought in, the stickman will give the dice to the player on his left. Dice is like cards, by the way.
If you don't go broke 1st, you'll get a chance to roll the dice, too. Don't worry about that. You just have to wait your turn.
Also, you and the other players aren't required to roll the dice. You can always pass on that, for any reason you want to. No one will give you a hard time about it, either.
The player gets to choose 2 dice from the 6 or 8 dice he's given. Once she picks those dice up, the stickman puts the other dice away until there's a new shooter. (They go in a dice tray.)
But the game still can't start, because no one has placed a bet yet. Actually, though, at a real craps table, bets will have been made already. I just haven't mentioned that yet.
Usually, players will start by making pass bets and don't pass bets. You'll see a lot more pass bets than don't pass bets, too.
In this case, 'pass' means for the dice to win. 'Don't pass' means for the dice to lose.
If you read my previous post about the table layout, you'll already know where those bets go on the table. In fact, those are bets you can place on the table yourself, as opposed to some of the bets where the dealers have to place the bet on your behalf.
But you're not limited to just those 2 options. You can bet on the field. You can bet on big 6. You can bet on big 8. You can even place a proposition bet in the center of the table.
One Roll Bets
It seems appropriate at this point in the discussion to point out the different kinds of bets available. Bets like pass and don't pass are multiple roll bets. They stay in action as the dice are rolled repeatedly until they're resolved.
The proposition bets, and some of the other bets, like the field bet, are one roll bets. These are bets made on the outcome of the very next roll. They win or lose based on what happens on that roll. They don't stay on the table.
The Come Out Roll Is When the Action Starts
The 1st roll a new shooter makes is called 'the come out roll.' If she rolls a 7 or an 11 on the come out roll, the dice win. Anyone who placed a bet on the pass line gets paid off at even money. Anyone who bet on don't pass loses their bet, and their money gets collected.
But if the shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12 on the come out roll, the pass line bet is an immediate loser. This is called 'crapping out.' Those totals—2, 3, and 12—are 'craps.' The don't pass line, though, MIGHT be a winner.
Remember when I discussed the layout and how the don't pass bet includes the words 'bar 12' or 'bar 2?'
This means that if the shooter rolls a 12 (or a 2, depending on what the layout says), the don't pass bet doesn't win any money. Instead, it's treated as a 'push' or a 'tie.' You get your money back, but you don't get any winnings with it.
Any other total sets a point. The possible points are 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10.
If the shooter doesn't set a point, she gets to keep the dice and continue to roll. It doesn't matter if the dice won or lost on the come out roll. And any time the shooter hasn't set a point, the next roll is always a new come out roll.
But if a point number has been rolled, the shooter keeps rolling until she either:
- Rolls the point number again. (In which case, the dice win.)
- Rolls a 7. (In which case, the dice lose.)
If the dice win, the shooter keeps the dice and continues to shoot. Also, the pass line bets pay off at even money.
If the dice lose, the next person to the left of the shooter gets a turn as shooter. Also, the don't pass bets pay off at even money.
After this action is completed, there's a new come out roll, regardless of whether or not there's a new shooter.
That's the basics of craps right there—the come out roll and whether the dice win or lose. Sometimes they win or lose on the first roll; sometimes there are subsequent throws which determine whether they win or lose.
But the other bets are whether the casino really cleans up.
Summarizing the Action
It helps to think of craps as being a game played in rounds. Each round starts with a come out roll.
The dice can win or lose immediately on the come out roll. If you roll a 7 or an 11, that's an immediate win. If you roll a 2, 3, or 12, that's an immediate loss.
Any other number sets a point. In that case, the shooter continues rolling the dice until she either rolls a 7 or the point again. If she rolls a 7 before rolling the point, the dice lose. If she rolls the point before rolling the 7, the dice win.
The pass bet pays off at even money when the dice win.
The don't pass bet pays off even money (or pushes) when the dice lose. The only time it's a push is when a 12 is rolled on the come out roll. (Or if a 2 is roller in a casino that says 'Bar 2' instead of 'Bar 12.')
And that's it.
Craps is a much simpler game than you expected, isn't it?
The real wrinkles start when you look at the dizzying arrays of bets that are available to be made in the game besides the pass and don't pass bets.
I'll look at the available bets in the next post.
Conclusion
A craps game starts when players buy in, place bets, a shooter is chosen, and then that shooter rolls the dice. The most basics bets in the game (the pass and don't pass bets) pay off based on whether the dice win or lose, respectively.
You do, of course, have multiple other bets available on the table. Some of them are one roll bets, like proposition bets, while others are determined after multiple rolls.
This is the 3rd post in my series about playing craps. My next post will include details about how the other bets on the craps table work.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.How To Roll Dice In Craps
Archaeologists recently uncovered a 600-year-old die that was probably used for cheating. The wooden die from medieval Norway has two fives, two fours, a three and a six, while the numbers one and two are missing. It is believed that the die was used to cheat in games, rather than being for a game that requires that specific configuration of numbers.
Today, dice like this with missing numbers are known as tops and bottoms. They can be a useful way to cheat if you're that way inclined, although they don't guarantee a win every time and they don't stand up to scrutiny from suspicious opponents (they only have to ask to take a look and you'll be found out). But there are several other options of cheating at dice too, and I'll talk you through some of them here.
It should be noted that using these methods in a casino are illegal and I'm not suggesting you adopt them in such establishments – but it's an interesting look at how probabilities work.
For a fair die, each number has an equal one in six, or 16.67%, chance of appearing. In the case of the die found in Norway, the numbers four and five are twice as likely to appear (as there are two of them), so have a one in three, or 33.33%, chance. The table shows these probabilities.
It does not take too much imagination to see how tops and bottoms can be used to your advantage. Let's assume that we are playing with two normal dice. There are 36 possible outcomes but only 11 possible total values the dice can produce. For example, six-four, four-six and five-five all add up to ten.
If we instead used two top and bottom dice with only the numbers one, four and five on them, we can never roll a total of 11 or 12 as we don't have a six to make that total. Similarly, we can never get a total of three as we don't have a two and a one. But we also cannot get any combination that would produce a total of seven, which would otherwise be the most likely total to appear with a probability of 16.67%. In a game of craps there are times when it can be really bad to throw a seven. So if you are playing with dice where a combination of seven is impossible, you have a distinct advantage.
As these kind of tops and bottoms dice will not pass even a cursory, closer inspection, they have to be brought into the game for a short time and then switched out again. This requires the cheat to be an expert at palming, meaning being able to conceal one set of dice in your hand and then bring them into play while simultaneously removing the other dice.
Using two dice, with the same three numbers repeated, might be too risky so a cheat would probably only want to switch in a single die into the game. In our example, this would mean no longer avoiding a total of seven, which would still have a probability of 16.67%. But now the totals of five and six would also have this probability.
In craps the odds are such that when you are required to avoid a seven, it is the number most likely to appear. Switching in a single dice can still reduce the house's chances of winning, by making other totals equally likely to appear.
Loaded dice
Loaded dice can make cheating harder to spot. These can take a number of different forms. For example, some of the spots on one face could be drilled out and the holes filled with a heavy substance so the die is more likely to land with this face down. If you were to drill out the number one, this means that the number six is more likely to appear, as the six is always on the opposite face to the one. Another way of loading a die would be to slightly change its shape, so that it is more likely to keep rolling. This may only give a small advantage, but it could be enough to tip the game in the cheat's favour.
How Best To Roll Dice In Craps
With tops and bottoms it is easy to know the probabilities of various totals appearing. This is not the case with loaded dice. One way of gauging the probabilities is to toss the dice a number of times (possibly thousands) and work out what numbers appear and how often. If you know that seven is less likely to appear than it would with fair dice then, over the long run, it would be a cheat's advantage.
Controlled throws
One other way to cheat doesn't require an unfair die at all but involves learning how to throw in a very controlled way. This can involve effectively sliding or dropping the die so the desired number appears. If two dice are used, one can be used to trap the other and stop it bouncing. If this is done by a skilled operator, it is very difficult to see.
Dominic LoRiggio, the 'Dice Dominator', was able to throw dice in what appeared a normal way but so that they would land on certain numbers. This was done by understanding how dice travel thorough the air and controlling each part of the throw. It took many (many, many) hours of practice to perfect, but he was able to consistently win at the craps table.
Many would consider what LoRiggio did to be advantage play, meaning using the rules to your advantage. This is similar to card counting in blackjack. The casinos may not like it, but you are technically not cheating – though some casino may try to make you shoot the dice in a different way if they suspect you are doing controlled throws.
