HOW TO PLAY CRAPS

The first thing you need to know about is that as the shooter, you are the one who rolls the dice. You win if the come-out roll, your opening roll, turns out to be a 7 or 11. Rolling a 2, 3, or 12 means you lose automatically. Rolling anything else means you must continue to roll the dice until the next time you roll that number, named the pass-line point. When this occurs, you are supposed to try not to roll a 7 because in order to win, you need to duplicate your pass-line point before a 7 is rolled. For instance, if your opening roll is a 6, you continue to roll until you get a 6 once more. If a 7 is rolled prior to a 6, you “crap out”, meaning you lose.

Players at your Craps table have 2 choices:

they can bet with you, betting that you will duplicate your pass-line point
they can bet against you, that you will not duplicate your pass-line point

Most often, Craps players bet with the shooter, especially if he's on a winning streak.

Usually, 4 people staff the Craps table at a casino:

Boxman: supervises the game and settles conflicting arguments
Dealer: there are 2 dealers that handle the bets on either side of the Craps table
Stickman: provides the shooter with the dice and calls out the betting options as well as the rolls.

Technically, the Craps table accommodates 24 players, but usually a full table will be made up of 15 - 20 players so that it does not become too crowded. The table for Craps is split into 3 sections.

Although each player has the chance to be the shooter, you can pass on your turn if you prefer not to shoot. Most often, the shooter chooses 2 out of the 5 dice the stickman provides. One of the most important things to keep in mind when learning how to play Craps is that the come-out roll, the initial roll, decides the rest of your game.

The following are the 3 scenarios of the come-out roll:

If you roll a 7 or 11, you and anyone else who has bet with you (the shooter) will win even money. In addition, the following roll will start a new playing round.
If you roll a 2, 3 or 12, you and anyone else who has bet with you (the shooter) will lose and the next player gets the dice.
If you roll a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, known as a point, the other Craps players bet place wagers on whether or not you (the shooter) will duplicate your pass-line point before a 7 is rolled. You keep rolling until you roll that point number or a 7. If you make the point, you can keep rolling and try to do it again, or you may pass the dice on to the next shooter.

Another crucial point to remember when learning how to play Craps is that the game of Craps is tracked with a puck, a disk that is half black and half white. Black side up indicates that the come-out roll is taking place, while white side up means that a point was made on a roll. In addition, when a point is made, the puck, white side up, is put on top of the box with the matching number of the winning point.

All the other players have many bets to choose from. To access a gambling guide that provides a more detailed explanation of how to play each bet, click on the specific bet you are interested in:

Craps Betting Types:

Proposition Betting Types:

Article Submitted by:
Josh Gabbins, Gambling Editor.