How To Play Craps

Craps is played on a special table, where bets are placed on different sections. These tables or normally double-sided – each end identical and centre bets located in the middle. Casinos would traditionally have four representatives at the table: a ‘boxman’ holding the chips; two ‘base dealers’ collecting the bets; and a ‘stick man’ to oversee centre bets and retrieve the dice with a wooden stick.

In online games, Craps usually has a certain number of players trying to beat the casino. All bets will be fronted by the casino, which will also set the odds for the table. The ‘shooter’ will be whichever player is rolling the dice, but everyone at the table will be placing bets on the shooter’s roll.

The “Pass Line” or ‘Don’t Pass Line’ (also referred to as ‘Win’/ ‘Right’ or ‘Don’t Win’/ ‘Wrong’) are where minimum wagers are placed. The game is then played in rounds, with the first known as the “come-out roll”. The main aim of the come-out roll is for a player to make one point and a round is finished when pass line bets are lost. Players then take turns rolling the dice, with rounds moving clockwise around the table.

Of course, Craps is well known for the names that have been given to the different types of rolls. In certain parts of the US, local nicknames have been conjured up over the years, such as the ‘Railroad 9’ – a ‘4 and 5’ in Atlantic City. A ‘Boxcar’ for a ‘4 and 6’ and the most famous, ‘Snake Eyes’ for a double 1, or more universal terms. Abbreviations such as ‘Yo’ for ‘Yo-Leven’ are used to avoid confusion between a call for an 11 or 7 – the latter also referred to as a ‘natural’.

Placing a Craps Wager

Craps is full of different types of rolls and bets, so getting used to all the names and possible maneuvers can take some time. It is easier to separate wagers into three categories – line, single-roll and multi roll bets.

Line Bets

Line bets are calculated on points, with the shooter required to make a Pass or Don’t Pass on the die that is rolled. If a 2, 3 or 12 is thrown, this is called a ‘Crap Out’ and every Pass Line bet will be lost. A 7or 11 will result in a win for Pass Line bets, but if a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 is rolled the same value in points will be awarded. The dealer will place an ‘On’ button over this number on the table.

Essentially, Don’t Pass line bets work in an opposite fashion, with a win for a 2 or 3 or a loss for a 7 or 11. But if a 12 is rolled this is known as a ‘Tie’ or ‘Stand-Off’; here it is common for casinos to allow players to increase their wager – up to 5 times the original amount – if the point is made on the come out roll.

Other forms of line bets are called ‘Come’ and ‘Don’t Come’ bets, which are played only after the shooter has made a point. For a Come bet the shooter will need to role a 7 or 11 to make a win; A 2, 3 or 12 will produce a loss; while a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 will result in the bet being moved to the number on the table that is equal to the value of the roll. When this occurs, the player will have the choice of increasing the odds and if the point is lower than 7 it results in a win. Come bets will work in exactly the opposite way – the player winning when a point is above 7.

Single-Roll Bets

In comparison to line bets, single-roll bets are easier to follow and are simply wagers placed on the roll of the dice. Occasionally referred to as ‘service’ bets, some popular calls include ‘Snake Eyes’ for a double 1, an Ace-Deuce’ 3, ‘Yo’ for 11 and ‘Hi-Lo’ for either a 2 or 12.

Another option for single-roll bets is the ‘Horn’, which is a wager placed over the 2, three, 11 and 12. For this type of bet, when a player wins a number, the other three numbers lose, resulting in higher winning odds. A slightly different version of the Horn is the ‘Whirl’, which introduces an ‘any-7’ bet – if the dice produces a 7 the player will only lose winnings on the numbers in the horn.

‘On the Hop’ is another popular single-roll bet, where a player puts money on the next roll showing the same number, but on opposite die. The odds for this bet are normally in the region of 15/1. And a more conservative alternative to On the Hop is the ‘Field’, which allows a player to predict a 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 or 12 to come up on the next roll.

Multi-Roll Bets

Multi-roll bets are placed on a series of rolls, only after the shooter has made a point. These types of wagers come in a variety of forms:

‘Hard Way’ – a roll consisting of a 4, 6, 8 or 10 that results in the same numbers, e.g. a ‘2 and 2’, known as a ‘Hard Way 4’.
‘Easy Way’ – where the shooter throws a 4, 6, 8 or 10 before a 7, and the two dice do not have the same value, such as a ‘3-1’ (an ‘Easy Way 4’).
‘Big 6’ or ‘Big 8’ – betting that the shooter will throw a 6 or 8 before a 7 (these types of wagers will have significantly lower odds).
‘Place and Buy’ – Allows a player to put down a wager or ‘buy’ a certain point number, which will stay in play until the shooter rolls a 7. Place bets are given odds slightly lower than true odds, but the odds for Buys remain the same. Normally there is a 5% commission taken on the player winnings or the initial wager.
‘Lay’ – the opposite of a Buy, where a bet is placed on a 7 being rolled before the point number.

However, also worth looking out for is a wager that can be played before the game begins, known as a ‘Fire Bet’. When the shooter is accumulating different points on the table, a fire symbol will be put on each number. The first three numbers will not result in the win, but the fourth, fifth and sixth will and also come with increasing odds.

Playing Strategies

It is only possible to win at Craps if you can understand the probabilities of each throw. As a 2 or 12 has the least chance of being rolled they will always offer the best odds. A 7 is the most likely outcome as there are six combinations from which it can be made.

The one thing remember about Craps is that there is no one successful way to win. All betting systems, mathematically, will result in a loss of money. Not counting Pass, Come and Don’t Pass, Don’t Come bets, the casino’s odds will always be below true odds.

However, certain systems are adopted to give a more tactical and structured approach. The ‘Martingale’ system, where the value of every lost wager is double for the next, is often utilized, but is useless if the player has a shaky start.

And now that Craps is so popular online, there have been many new systems and strategies developed and many claim to be able to beat the casino. Quatloos, a US-based online anti-fraud corporation, reintroduced the old “Parity Hedge System” – an infamous hoax system from the 70’s – as a way of spreading awareness of false strategies on the web. This system was later found to be selling at a number of so-called strategy websites.

Statistically, Craps is a game where the player will eventually lose out, but what has made it so popular is how easy it can be to make a lot of money in a short space of time. The only way to do well at Craps is to remain patient and never go past your wagering limit.