Craps Rules

Craps Strategies

Craps is a game that can be as simple or as complicated as you desire. Everything depends on the bets you're placing. At its core, craps is a table game played by several players, with one of the players (the one who rolls the dice) called the "shooter." It involves the shooter rolling the dice, and all of the players betting on the numbers that come up or don't come up.

Players place bets before the shooter rolls the dice. The shooter's first roll of the dice is called the "come out roll." Before this, players place what are called "pass line bets." The outcome of these bets depends on what the come out roll will be. Pass line bets are immediate winners if the come out roll is 7 or 11, and they are immediate losers if the come out roll is 2, 3, or 12. As for the remaining numbers—4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10—they become the "point" if they come up. If the shooter rolls the point, he or she must continue rolling the dice until either the number identified as the point OR a 7 comes up. If the point comes up before 7, all pass line bets win. If the opposite happens, all pass line bets lose.

Either way, nothing will happen in a game of craps until one of these two numbers appears, so there's a theoretical chance that the game could continue all night. It adds to the fun!

Here are the most basic bets you can make in a game of craps, as well as their payoffs:

Pass Line: these bets win on a come out roll of 7 or 11 and lose on a come out roll of 2, 3, or 12. If a number other than these appears, it becomes the point. Pass Line bets win if the shooter's next roll produces the point before 7, and lose if a 7 comes up before the point. Payoff is 1 to 1.

Don't Pass Line: the opposite of a Pass Line bet. Don't Pass Line bets win if the come out roll is 2 or 3, and lose if the come out roll is 7 or 11. If the come out roll is 12, the bet becomes a "push" and the player gets his money back. If a number other than 2, 3, 7, 11, or 12 appears, it becomes the point. Don't Pass Line bets win if the shooter rolls a 7 before rolling the point, and lose if the opposite happens. It is important to know that Don't Pass Line bets can be removed or reduced while the shooter is rolling for the second time. Payoff is 1 to 1.

Come Bets: Come bets are almost the same as Pass Line bets. Think of them as Pass Line bets happening once again in the same round of craps. Players place Come Bets after the point has been established by a come out roll. As with Pass Line bets, Come Bets win if the shooter's next roll is 7 or 11, and they lose if the shooter's next roll is 2, 3, or 12. If the shooter's roll is 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, that number becomes the "come point." Come Bets win if the shooter rolls the come point before a 7, and lose if the opposite occurs. Come Bets cannot be changed or removed. Payoff is 1 to 1.

Don't Come Bets: As you might imagine, Don't Come Bets are almost the same as Don't Pass Line bets. Again, players place these bets after the initial come out roll. Once the point has been established, Don't Come Bets win if the shooter's next roll is 2 or 3, lose if the roll is 7 or 11, and push if the roll produces 12. If the roll produces 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, that number becomes the come point. Don't Come Bets win if the shooter's next roll produces a 7 before the come point, and lose if the opposite happens. Don't Come Bets, like Don't Pass Line bets, can be changed or removed after being placed. Payoff is 1 to 1.

Craps - Basic Strategy

Craps Strategies

Okay, go ahead and admit it! You've always wanted to be part of that raucus and rowdy crowd gathered round the craps table, haven't you. Trouble was, everything looked so fast and complicated.. The speed of the bets, all the yelling, and the strange language just made it too intimidating, so you've never played. Perhaps you've heard a "DOLLAR YO!" or "LAY THE TEN". Why couldn't these people speak English?

Well, now you can learn everything you always wanted to know about craps, a little at a time. You'll learn the most important things first, and the finer points later. This time we'll take a quick look at exactly how the game is played.

As you probably know, a game of craps is played with a pair of identical dice. The opposing faces of each die always adds up to seven. For example, the one is always opposite the six, the two opposite the five, and the three opposite the four. And that's it - there are only three combinations on each die. Pretty simple so far, huh. Now, you have six numbers on each die (1- 6) so a pair of dice will give you 36 different combinations. The game of craps is based on how often these different combinations appear when someone rolls the dice. The following chart is a diagram of all 36 different dice combinations -

As you can see, in 36 possible combinations, the seven will appear the most - six times. The six and eight will appear five times each, and the five or nine will appear four times each. The game of craps is based on the most popular number, seven, and how the other numbers compare to it. For example if a seven rolls six times (in 36) and the six rolls five times, the odds of the six rolling before the seven are 5:6.

In practical terms, this means that if you bet $5 on the 6, and it rolls before the seven does, you win $6 for your $5 bet. The actual payoffs of your bets are based on these odds, but you don't have to memorize them - just ask one of the friendly dealers and they will tell you what the payoff is for each bet.

Okay, now let's look at the basic rules. This time we'll take a quick look at the pass line wager - the most popular (and one of the most profitable) bets on the craps table! When someone (called a "shooter") tosses the dice, he can roll three things - a "natural" (a 7 or 11), a "point" or a "craps". If he (or she) rolls a seven (or 11) before the point is established, all of the pass line bettors win. If he rolls a "craps" (2, 3 or 12) all the pass line bettors lose. If he rolls a "point" number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10) he must repeat that number again before the seven rolls in order to win.

Okay so far? Good! Now let's look at a sample roll! The stickman pushes three or four pairs of dice to the shooter, who picks up any two and tosses them to the far wall. Say his first number is a seven. Everyone who has a bet on the pass line wins their bet! His second number is an eleven, so everyone wins again! His third number is a two ("craps"), so the pass line bettors lose this time, but he keeps on shooting. The shooter's fourth number is a six, which becomes the "point." If he repeats the number six before the seven rolls, the pass line bettors win, and he shoots again. However, if the seven rolls before the six is repeated, the pass line bettors lose and someone else becomes the shooter.

Now you know enough to bet on the pass line! When you play, you might watch some other people place their bets first, and then give it a try yourself! And, as always, good luck at the casino tables!

Craps - Advanced Strategy

Craps Strategies

Some attention has been given to the "Sure Fire" Betting system - where you bypass the come out roll and bet on all of the place numbers for one roll only. You bet $5 on the four, five, nine, and ten, and place $6 each on the 6 and 8, so you have $32 in play. You'll win on the four or ten ($9), five or nine ($7), and six or eight ($7). However, you'll lose all $32 if the seven rolls, so you may have to win five more times (5 x $7 = $35) just to get your $32 back.

There is a better way of doing this, but it involves placing the same numbers BEFORE the come out roll, along with a pass line bet to protect you from the seven. You also make a "3-way" craps bet, which is a one roll bet for the numbers 2, 3 and 12. If you bet $3 ($1 each) the payoff is 30:1 ($30) on the two and twelve, and 15:1 ($15) on the three. So you'll bet $3 3-way craps, along with $40 on the pass line. Place $5 on the four, five, nine and ten, and $6 each on the six and eight. Be sure to request that all of your bets be "ON" for the come out roll. This way, the seven will not hurt you.

Let's see what happens when a number hits -

4 or 10 - win $6 (+$9 place - $3 3-way)
5 or 9 - win $4 (+$7 place - $3 3-way)
6 or 8 - win $4 (+7 place - $3 3-way)
7 - win $5 (+$40 pass - $32 place - $3 3-way)
11- win $37 (+$40 pass - $3 3-way)
2 or 12 - lose $10 ($30 3-way - $40 pass)
3 - lose $25 ( + $15 3-way - $40 pass )

A slight variation of this play is to make a $35 pass line bet instead of $40. This way the seven will give you a push, but you'll only lose $5 (instead of $10) on the 2/12 or $20 (instead of $25) on the 3. What this new system really does is shift the primary burden of losing from the seven (at 6:1 odds) to the three (at 12:1 odds). In the first mentioned "sure-fire" system, if you lost on the seven, you would lose $32. In this new system, if you lose on the 3, you're out only $25. The seven rolls twice as many times as the three, so it's a fairly safe system to use. If you're a pass line better anyway, you really should give it a try before the come out. You'll be surprised at how much you'll win and how easy it is to play!

Craps Probabilities

Craps Strategies

In this section we will demonstrate the probabilities of every potential outcome when you roll the dice. As you will see, and if you don’t already know, there are 36 possible end results when you roll. Every gambler who attempts to play any dice game should know the probabilities of each result before you start playing.

Study and remember the chart below, and it will greatly improve your chances of becoming a more successful craps player. Also, below the chart is a brief explanation of what all these numbers mean. Take a look! Starting from right to left is the possible outcome (2 to 12), the number of possible combinations which will result in this outcome, and finally the odds of rolling this number.

As you can see, the most frequent outcome is 7. Six of every thirty-six outcomes give you 7. Therefore the chances of rolling a seven are 6/36 (5 to 1 or 16.67%). The rarest outcomes are 2 and 12. There is only one possible combination for each of these, i.e. 1+1=2 and 6+6=12. One out of thirty six potential outcomes means the chances of rolling either of these numbers is 1/36 (35 to 1).

In order to calculate the odds of winning the come-out roll we must consider the chances of rolling either a 7 or an 11. The number of potential combinations for this are 6 and 2. This means that your chances of rolling either a 7 or an 11 are 8/36. Naturally you will wonder at the chances of losing the come-out roll. Well, if we add the chances of rolling a 2 (1/36), a 3 (2/36), or a 12 (1/36), we have a 4/36 (1 + 2 + 1 = 4) chance of losing. Therefore the chances of winning the come-out roll are exactly double that of losing it. In total, the chances of either winning or losing the pass-line bet are 12/36 (8/36 + 4/36). As a percentage, this is exactly one third (33.33...%). As the game continues, the odds change considerably.

There you have it - some basic numbers to consider when playing craps. Always keep these percentages in mind. Happy gaming!