What is Craps?
- Craps is a dice game in which players bet on the outcomes of the roll of a pair of dice. Players can wager money against each other (playing “street craps”) or against a bank (“casino craps”). Because it requires little equipment, “street craps” can be played in informal settings. While shooting craps, players may use slang terminology to place bets and actions.
- To understand how to play casino craps, a player first needs to understand the craps table personnel and where they are located. The most common table personnel for craps games in casinos include dealers, a boxperson and a stickperson.
- The boxperson is in charge of the craps table and is the immediate supervisor for the entire game. The supervisor is also in charge of the chips and must handle any disputes between the dealers and players.
- The dealer to the boxperson’s right side is the 2nd base dealer. Any craps player on that side of the game is on the 2nd base side. A key way to remember this is to look at the field. On 2nd base, number two on the field is the furthest from the boxperson.
- The dealer to the boxperson’s left is the 3rd base dealer. Any craps player on that side of the game is on the 3rd base. A key way to remember this is to look at the field. On 3rd base, number twelve on the field is the furthest from the boxperson (1+2=3rd base).
- The dealer moving the dice with a long-hooked stick is called the stickperson. The stickperson is located center of the table-opposite of the boxperson.
- If a player is “straight out” they are located at the middle end of the table on either side.
- Supervisors use the color of a player’s clothing, as well as the players position to designate the player for ratings.
Craps Table
Players use casino chips rather than cash to bet on the Craps “layout,” a fabric surface which displays the various bets. The bets vary somewhat among casinos in availability, locations, and payouts. The tables roughly resemble bathtubs and come in various sizes. In some locations, chips may be called checks, tokens, or plaques.
Against one long side is the casino’s table bank: as many as two thousand casino chips in stacks of 20. The opposite long side is usually a long mirror. The U-shaped ends of the table have duplicate layouts and standing room for approximately eight players. In the center of the layout is an additional group of bets which are used by players from both ends. The vertical walls at each end are usually covered with a rubberized target surface covered with small pyramid shapes to randomize the dice which strike them. The top edges of the table walls have one or two horizontal grooves in which players may store their reserve chips.
The table is run by up to four casino employees: a boxman seated (usually the only seated employee) behind the casino’s bank, who manages the chips, supervises the dealers, and handles “coloring up” players (exchanging small chip denominations for larger denominations in order to preserve the chips at a table); two base dealers who stand to either side of the boxman and collect and pay bets to players around their half of the table; and a stickman who stands directly across the table from the boxman, takes and pays (or directs the base dealers to do so) the bets in the center of the table, announces the results of each roll (usually with a distinctive patter), and moves the dice across the layout with an elongated wooden stick.
Each employee also watches for mistakes by the others because of the sometimes large number of bets and frantic pace of the game. In smaller casinos or at quiet times of day, one or more of these employees may be missing, and have their job covered by another, or cause player capacity to be reduced.
Some smaller casinos have introduced “mini-craps” tables which are operated with only two dealers; rather than being two essentially identical sides and the center area, a single set of major bets is presented, split by the center bets. Responsibility of the dealers is adjusted: the stickman continuing to handle the center bets, and the base dealer handling the other bets as well as cash and chip exchanges.
By contrast, in “street craps”, there is no marked table and often the game is played with no back-stop against which the dice are to hit. (Despite the name “street craps”, this game is often played in houses, usually on an un-carpeted garage or kitchen floor.) The wagers are made in cash, never in chips, and are usually thrown down onto the ground or floor by the players. There are no attendants, and so the progress of the game, fairness of the throws, and the way that the payouts are made for winning bets are self-policed by the players.
How to play Craps?
The game of craps has many exciting aspects to it. The concept of playing craps is to roll a number (a point) with two dice and then roll that same number again before a seven is rolled. The person at the craps table that rolls the dice is called “the shooter.”
When there is a number marked by the “pucks,” it means that the number is the “point” of the game. This is the number that the shooter is trying to make before seven rolls.
If the point is made, the puck is turned “off” and the shooter shoots again. It is now a “come out roll.” A “come out roll” means that it is the beginning of the game and there in no point established.
If the next number that rolls is a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, then that is the point of the game. The shooter again tries to shoot the point before seven. If seven rolls before the point, we call that a “seven out.” The shooter loses control of the dice and we give the dice to the next shooter.
A new shooter makes a point and then tries to make the point before a seven, just as the previous shooter.
Betting in craps & craps strategy
When playing Craps, the most common craps bets are pass line, place bets, hard ways and craps & eleven. Below are several betting terms that you should familiarize yourself while playing craps.
Pass Line Bet: Players are betting that on the first roll 7 or 11 rolls to win, 2, 3, or 12 loses. If a number such as: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 rolls, the number must repeat before a seven to win.
Don’t Pass Bet: Player betting that on the first roll 2 or 3 rolls to win, 12 is a push, 7 or 11 loses. If a number such as: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 rolls, a seven must roll before the number repeats.
Come Bet: Is just like the pass line bet, same rules apply. It’s a game within a game.
Don’t Come Bet: Is similar to the Don’t Pass bet, same rules apply. It’s a game within a game.
Field Bet: If any of the numbers that are in the field box come out, player wins. A field bet can also be referred to as a “ONE ROLL BET.”
Place Bet: Wagers made on the point numbers (4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10) that are not contract bets. A Place Bet is “off” on the come-out roll unless the player indicates otherwise.
Proposition Bet: One roll bet, the numbers are 2, 3, 7, 11 and 12.
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