How to Play Craps

But really, it’s not all that complicated. Casinos aren’t in the business of making rules so intimidating they chase potential players away from the tables. If we don’t play, the operators can’t make money.

The pass line sequence starts with a “comeout roll.” You can tell if the next roll is a comeout by the placing of a disc on the table. If the disc is toward a corner of the layout and is turned so the face-up side is black with the word “off,” then the next roll is a comeout. If the disc is in a numbered box and has a white side saying “on” face up, then the pass sequence already is underway and the next roll is not a comeout.

On the comeout, if the shooter rolls a 7 or 11, pass bets win. If the shooter rolls 2, 3 or 12, pass bets lose. If the shooter rolls 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, that number becomes the point and the object of the game changes. Now the shooter must roll that number again before rolling a 7.

DON’T PASS AND DON’T COME

These are the near opposites of pass and come. Like them, you bet don’t pass if the next roll is a comeout and don’t come if it isn’t.

On the comeout for a don’t pass bet or on the first roll after making a don’t come bet, you win if the roll is 2 or 3 and lose if the roll is 7 or 11. You don’t win if the roll is 12 even though 12 is a loser at the start of pass or come sequences. Instead, the bet is a push and you can take your money back after a 12. If the roll is any other number, it becomes the point. If a 7 rolls before the point is repeated, don’t bettors win, and if the point comes first, they lose – the opposite of pass or come.

PLACE BETS

Winning bets are paid at 7-6 odds if you’re betting on 6 or 8, 7-5 on 5 or 9 and 9-5 on 4 or 10. Want to choose your number without waiting for the shooter to establish a point on the comeout? Place bets enable you to do just that. When you make a place bet, you’re betting the shooter will roll your number before he rolls a 7. As on pass, no other numbers matter. If you place 6 and the next several rolls are 5, 4, 12, 3, 9, 8, then there is no decision on your bet. You win only if the shooter rolls your number, and lose if he rolls 7. These pay more than even money, but less than true odds. Instead of the 6-5 true odds of making a 6 or 8, those numbers pay 7-6, giving the house it’s 1.52% edge.

BUY BETS

Winning bets are paid at true odds, but you have to pay the house a 5% commission to get that deal. For example, if you buy the 4 for $20, you must also pay the house a $1 commission. Then if you win, you’re paid at the 2-1 true odds. That lowers the house edge from 6.67% to 4.67% on 4 or 10, but raises the house edge on other numbers.

However, some casinos charge the commission only if you win. That drops the house edge to 2% if you buy 5 or 9 and 1.67% on 4 or 10, making buying a better option than placing. The house edge on buying 6 and 8 under these conditions is 2.27%, so you’re still better off with the 1.52% for a place bet.

HARDWAYS

Payoffs are 9-1 on 6 or 8 and 7-1 on 4 or 10. A number rolled the hard way means that both dice show the same number. A hard 4 is a 2 on each die. Hard 6 is 3 on each die, and so on. To win a hardway bet, your number must come up the hard way before the shooter rolls either the 7 or your number any other way. If you bet hard 8 and the roll is 2-6 or 3-5, you lose. Only 4-4 is a winner.

THE FIELD

Winners are paid even money most of the time, but are paid 2-1 if the roll is 2 and either 2-1 or 3-1 if the roll is 12. Some casinos, especially in Reno, Nevada, reverse that and pay 3-1 on 2 and 2-1 on 12. If both 2 and 12 pay 2-1, the house edge is 5.56%. If either pays 3-1, that cuts the edge in half to 2.78%.
 

2 OR 12

Winners are paid 30-1. If you bet on 2 the next roll must be 2. If you bet on 12, the next roll must be 12. All other numbers lose.

ANY 7

Winners are paid 4-1.

ANY CRAPS

Winners are paid 7-1.

You get three numbers on this bet – you win if the next roll is 2, 3 or 12.

Winners are paid 30-1 on hard hop bets and 15-1 on easy hop bets.

On hop bet, you’re betting each die will land on a specific number. You tell the dealer,”6-3 hopping” or “4-2 on the hop,” and you win only if the dice show those specific numbers.

On a “hard hop,” both numbers are the same, such as 1-1 or 4-4. When the two numbers are different, the bet is an “easy hop.”

RULE #1: NUMBER OF DICE

Two six-sided dice are used, and you are betting on the total of the numbers that land face up on both dice.

If one die lands on 2 and the other on 4, then the number on that roll is 6. If the numbers are 1 and 1, then the roll is 2.

At online casinos, as in other games, you start by making a deposit, or if you already have funds on deposit, you may draw on them for money to play.

At live casinos, most players buy in at the table. Some already have chips from previous play and some who have credit accounts at the casino may have chips from having cashed a credit marker.

But most pay as they play. You do so by putting cash on the layout and telling the dealer you want to buy chips. The dealer is not permitted to take cash directly out of you hand. You must put your cash on the table and the dealer then will take it and give you chips.

At most online casinos, your screen will include a graphic of the craps layout. You may click on chip images to determine how much you want to bet, then again on the screen to place the chips on the bet you want. If you want to make the bet labeled “Pass Line,” you would click on the pass line area. If you want to bet on 11, you would click on a box depicting 11 with images of one die on 6 and one on 5.

At live casinos, you may place your own chips on the pass line and in areas marked “Come” and “Field,” but for must bets, your chips must be placed by the dealer. You push chips in front of you on the layout and tell the dealer, “$6 each on 6 and 8.” The dealer then moves your chips to the appropriate box and positions it in accordance to your position at the table, so he knows both what the bet is and who made it.

RULE #5: BETTING LIMITS

Online, you’ll usually be asked to choose from a range of minimum and maximum bets. For example, you might be presented with options of minimum bet $1, maximum $100; minimum $5, maximum $500; or minimum $10, maximum $1,000. You choose the range that’s within your comfort zone. In live casinos, there will be a placard on the table detailing minimum and maximum bets. If the placard lists a minimum wager of $10 and you only want to put $5 on the line, then you need to look around and see if there’s another table that’s more friendly to your bankroll.

At online casinos, virtual dice are rolled and results determined by a random number generator. In live casinos, shooters take turns. To see how that works, we need to revisit the pass line.

You’ll remember from chapter 2, the pass line sequence starts with a comeout roll. If the shooter rolls 7 or 11, pass bets win, and if he rolls 2, 3 or 12, pass bets lose. Any other number becomes the point. If the shooter rolls the point number again before 7, pass bets win, but if a 7 comes first, pass bets lose.

When the shooter rolls a loser 7 after establishing a point, he’s said to “seven out.” At that point, the dice rotate to a new shooter. Not all losing rolls bring a new shooter. If pass loses with a 2, 3 or 12 on the comeout, the shooter has not sevened out and keeps shooting.

Similarly, not all 7s are seven out. If the shooter makes a point, the sequence starts all over with a new comeout, and on that comeout 7 and 11 again are winners.

As long as the shooter keeps making points and avoids seven out, he keeps shooting. In the longest streak on record, Patricia Demauro rolled 154 times without sevening out in 2009 at the Borgata in Atlantic City. That streak took four hours, 18 minutes before the dice passed to the next shooter.