Craps is a fun casino game where players place bets on the table and root for the shooter to roll a winning number with the dice before sevening out. Only one player per round is the shooter, but any player can bet on the table. The dice are passed around the table clockwise after each round so anyone interested in being the shooter gets a turn. Craps Odds Explained you to choose to deposit your money at their casino. What many people don’t know is that playing with a good and fair deposit bonus gives you a much, much higher chance of leaving the games with a profit, and bonuses are by far the biggest cost of any online casino. Craps is a game where many bettors get to stake their chips on a roll of the dice. The table layout makes the game seem a little confusing at first, but the rules are easy to pick up with experience. Before stepping up to a table, read about the kinds of bets available and how a round of craps play out. Craps is a much easier game to learn than most people think. The basic premise is simple: you are betting on the outcome of the roll of two dice. The only thing that makes the game confusing is all the different types of bets you can place.
The Odds: Numbers
Since craps is a game of chance, you need to understand why you have a greater or lesser chance of rolling different numbers. Because you're rolling two dice, your chances of rolling a specific number in craps are determined by the number of die combinations that can add up to that number. For example, 2 can only be rolled with two 1s, but 4 can be rolled with either a 1 and a 3 or two 2s. That means you have twice the chance of rolling a 3 as you do a 2. Because the 7 has the greatest number of combinations (six), it is the number that has the potential to come up most often, which is why 7 is the magic number in craps.
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There are 36 possible number combinations in craps. Here is a chart showing the possible combinations for each number using two die.
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From the chart, you can see that the most likely number you'll roll is a 7, followed by the 6 and the 8, then 5 and 9, then 4 and 10, then 3 and 11, and finally (and least likely) the 2 and the 12. This means you'll roll a 7 once out of every six rolls, a 6 or an 8 once out of every 7 to 8 rolls, and so on.
Odds for Each Number
By looking at the possible combinations, the 'true odds' for each number can be established. Knowing the odds in craps is good so you have a feel for the likelihood of one number being rolled before another one (e.g., is the 4 going to be rolled before the 7?).
House Edge
Now, true odds are not what the casino pays you unless you're also betting 'free odds' on top of your main bet. Free odds, which is an additional wager you place with your original line bet, pay true odds so the casino's edge is reduced. (We'll talk more about free odds in Strategies the Winners Use.)
To better explain how the casino edge works, let's take the example of flipping a coin. You have a 50/50 chance of the coin landing on heads, and a 50/50 chance of it landing on tails. If that were a bet on which you were being paid true odds, you would be paid even money. The casino, however, has to have an edge in order to make a profit on the game. So, the payoff for any given bet is less than what true mathematical odds would dictate. For example, on a bet that had true odds of 1:1, you would think that if you bet $1 and win, you would be paid $1 in winnings. But in a casino, depending on the bet, you might only be paid $.96. The difference between the true odds and what they pay you is how they make money -- it's called casino odds.
Another way to better understand casino odds versus true odds is to look at the definition of the casino (or house) edge. WizardOfOdds.com defines it as, 'The ratio of the average loss to the initial bet,' going on to explain that it's based on the original wager rather than the average wager so that players can have an idea of how much they are going to lose when they place a bet. For example, by knowing that the casino has a 1.41 percent edge in craps, you can know that you'll be losing 14.1 cents for every $10 bet.
For charts of odds for all types of bets, visit the Wizard of Odds.com.
On the next page, we'll talk about types of craps bets, their odds and what the casino pays for each.
Learning how to play craps isn’t as difficult as you might think. People are often steer away from playing the game because they think its too complex, but the only particularly complicated aspect is all the different types of bets that can be placed.
You don’t actually need to learn all of them to start playing and you can just stick to the simplest ones if you like.
You do, however, need to understand how the game is played.
This article will help as we cover everything you need to know to play craps in a live casino or online.
We explain the main objective of the game, the craps table, the betting layout, and the basic rules. We also introduce the different types of bets.
Game Objective in Craps
The main objective in craps is really quite straightforward. Basically you are just betting on the outcome of the roll of two dice.
Craps is pure chance since you can’t affect the outcome in any way, but you do have the choice of several wagers. The majority of these wagers are ultimately based on what combination of dice will be rolled.
The goal in craps is therefore to try to correctly predict which numbers will come up on the next roll. This is, of course, guesswork, but it doesn’t stop the game being a lot of fun.
Craps is played on a specially-designed table that features a betting layout where players can place their wagers. In a live casino, a table would look something like this.
The dice are rolled on the table by one of the participating players, referred to as the shooter. Typically, a new player will become the shooter at the end of each round, although one player may remain as the shooter for several in a row.
Anyone at the table, including the shooter, can make wagers by placing their chips in the appropriate spot on the betting layout.
A craps table requires the attention of several casino employees. You’ll usually find the following people running a table.
The boxman is in charge of the chips at the table. He (or she) will exchange cash into chips for players and swap them for different denominations if required. He’s also responsible for supervising the dealers and generally ensuring that the game runs smoothly.
The stickman is in charge of the dice. He moves them around the table with the use of a stick (hence the name), passing them to the shooter at the start of each roll. He will also announce the outcome of each roll.
A craps table usually features two base dealers, one standing on either side. They are responsible for collecting losing bets and paying out winners. When requested to do so, they can also place certain bets on behalf of players.
The Craps Table (Online Casino)
The rules of craps are the same regardless of whether you are playing in a live setting or online. However, things are a lot simpler online. There’s no allocated shooter, as technically you are the shooter every time you play.
The diced are rolled automatically when you press the relevant button, and you place your bets by clicking in the appropriate place on the betting layout.
The following is an example of what an online craps table looks like:
Basic Rules
Each round in craps starts with what is known as the come-out roll. Most casinos will require that the shooter place a bet before making this roll on either the pass line or the don’t pass line.
If the combined value of the two dice on a come-out roll equals 2, 3, or 12, then this is “crapping out” and the round is over. Players will lose pass line bets and win don’t pass bets. If the come-out roll is 7 or 11, the round is also over.
If any other value is rolled on the come-out roll i.e. 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, then a point is established, equal to the value rolled, and the round continues into the next stage.
The shooter continues to roll with players betting on the outcome of each, until they roll either a 7 or the point value that has been established.
Following a roll of either 7 or the point value, the round is over and a new come-out roll is required. It’s standard practice for the shooter to pass the dice to another player if a round ends with a 7, and to stay as shooter if the round ends with the point value being rolled.
This is essentially all there is to the basic rules of craps. What makes the game more complex are all the different bets that can be placed.
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The following is a list of the different wagers you can place when playing craps.
- Pass Line
- Don’t Pass
- Come
- Don’t Come
- Pass Line Odds
- Don’t Pass Odds
- Come Odds
- Don’t Come Odds
- Place Win
- Place Lose
- Buy
- Lay
- Big 6
- Big 8
- Hardways
- Field
- Any 7
- Any 11
- Any Craps
- Ace Deuce
- Aces
- Boxcar
As you can see, there are numerous different bets in craps. Please don’t let this steer you away from playing the game as you really don’t need to learn them all.
They are pretty simple overall; it just takes a little time to familiarize yourself with each one.
You can read about all these bets in more detail here.
If you’re ready to put what you’ve learned here into action, you might want to consider trying out an online casino. You can play craps at most of the top online casinos that we recommend. If you want to play for real money, you’ll get a bonus for signing up and making your first deposit. And if you prefer to just play for fun, that’s an option at most places, too. Here are some of the online casinos we recommend playing at.
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