Craps Games

Craps can be considered a battle between you and the house. The only way to win a battle is with a good strategy. There are two strategies that will help you get the most out of your Craps experience and minimize the potential losses you may incur. At first the game of craps may look difficult because of all the various bets you can place, but it is actually a simple game. All the players at the craps table get a turn to roll the dice, but you don’t have to roll if you don’t want to.

The dice are passed clockwise around the table and when it is your turn to roll you simply take the dice and roll them to the far end of the table. This would be your first roll of the dice which is also called the come-out roll.

If you roll a 7 or 11 that is called a natural and you win and you roll again. If you roll a 2, 3 or 12 those are all called craps and you lose, but you still get to roll again. The only other possible numbers you can roll are 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 and if one of those numbers comes up, then that number becomes your point and the object of the game is to roll that number again before you roll a 7.

The craps table

In a casino, players make bets with chips on a specially made craps table with a table cloth made of felt that displays the various betting possibilities. In most casinos, craps tables are double sided. The layouts on both ends of the table are identical, with the center bets in the middle. This allows more players to participate, to a maximum of 8 on each side of the center line. Players can make multiple bets for each turn, round, or roll and should become familiar with the craps layout.

A casino craps table is run by up to four casino employees: a boxman who guards the chips, supervises the dealers and handles coloring out 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; and a stickman who stands directly across the table from the boxman, takes bets in the center of the table (hard ways, yo, craps, horn, etc.), announces the results of each roll, collects the dice with an elongated wooden stick, and directs the base dealers to pay winners from bets in the center of the table. Each employee makes sure the other is paying out winners correctly. Occasionally, during off-peak times, only one base dealer will be attending the table, rendering only half the table open for bettors or one of the two base dealers will assume the role of the stickman. In some casinos, there is no boxman; the boxman's duties are shared between the dealers and a roving supervisor who covers many tables.

In the game of shooting dice, 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 uncarpeted garage or kitchen floor.) The wagers are made in cash, never in chips, and are usually thrown down onto the ground by the players. There are no attendants, and so the progress of the game, fairness of the throws, and the way that the pay-outs are made for winning bets are self-policed by the players.