- Craps is a caught on dice game which has become more outspread in recent years. It is a crowd-pleasing table game, as the shooter is often surrounded by an enthusiastic group while he tosses the dice. As an online game, Craps will keep you head over heels as there are many bets you can place, like odds bets, proposition bets, as well as hardways.
- Create your own unique greeting on a Craps card from Zazzle. Choose from thousands of customizable templates or create your own from scratch!
- How to count card craps at Viejas Casino near San Diego.http://discountgambling.net/2012/06/10/card-craps-simple-explanation/.
- Craps is a dice game in which the players make wagers on the outcome of the roll, or a series of rolls, of a pair of dice. Players may wager money against each other (playing 'street craps') or a bank (playing 'casino craps', also known as 'table craps', or often just 'craps').
Create your own unique greeting on a Craps card from Zazzle. Choose from thousands of customizable templates or create your own from scratch!
How to Play Craps
Craps is one of the most exciting Casino games around as it is high in Player involvement. You will regularly hear yelling and shouting at one of the tables in a land-based casino. It is played on a purpose-built table using two dice.
Like most Casino games, you play against the House (Casino) as opposed to other players and as there are lots of different betting options you can bet on when guessing what numbers will come up when the dice are rolled, there is plenty of choices to make too.
In this article we discuss how to play craps giving you a break down of craps rules and everything you need to win at the game. This is part 1 of a two part article. After learning the basics of craps rules, the second part is about more advanced strategies and tips.
Craps Rules
Craps rules can be more difficult than in other casino games, but once learned this can be a very social and enjoyable game with some terrific betting odds.
The Objective of the game
Players need to guess the outcome of 2 standard, 6-sided dice being rolled and what the total of the 2 dice will be.
Dice Values
The game is played with a set of two perfectly balanced dice with each die having six white dots numbered 1 through 6. There is an equal chance of each number being rolled.
Possible Dice Combinations:
Number | Combination | Ways To Roll |
---|---|---|
2 | 1-1 | One |
3 | 1-2, 2-1 | Two |
4 | 1-3, 3-1, 2-2 | Three |
5 | 1-4, 4-1, 2-3, 3-2 | Four |
6 | 1-5, 5-1, 2-4, 4-2, 3-3 | Five |
7 | 1-6, 6-1, 2-5, 5-2, 3-4, 4-3 | Six |
8 | 2-6, 6-2, 3-5, 5-3, 4-4 | Five |
9 | 3-6, 6-3, 4-5, 5-4 | Four |
10 | 4-6, 6-4, 5-5 | Three |
11 | 5-6, 6-5 | Two |
12 | 6-6 | One |
Names of Dice Rolls
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
1 | Snake Eyes | Loose Deuce | Easy Four | Fever Five | Easy Six | Natural |
2 | Loose Deuce | Hard Four | Fever Five | Easy Six | Natural | Easy Eight |
3 | Easy Four | Fever Five | Hard Six | Natural | Easy Eight | Nina |
4 | Fever Five | Easy Six | Natural | Hard Eight | Nina | Easy Ten |
5 | Easy Six | Natural | Easy Eight | Nina | Hard Ten | Yo |
6 | Natural | Easy Eight | Nina | Easy Ten | Yo | Boxcars |
Game Session Preparations:
Set your budget – As a general rule, you need enough for 50 bets when playing table games.
Choose your table – All will have a minimum and maximum amount you can place on all different bets, choose one where each of your favourites is no more than one-fiftieth of your budget. i.e. if you have a bankroll of $/€/£200, you should be looking at betting no more than $/€/£4 per time
Find a space at the table – Unlike many Casino games, players always stand and do not have a specific area where they place bets – there are many different types of bets that all players can use. This is irrelevant when playing online.
Decide how much you would like to change up and play with – You will be given chips, the sizes of which depend on how much you change up and the limits of the tables.
Game Progression
To begin, the Shooter (one of the Players) needs to bet at least the table minimum on either the Pass Line or the Don’t Pass Line
The game is played in Rounds, with the right to roll the dice by each player moving clockwise around the table at the end of each round. A player may choose not to roll but can continue to bet.
Once all players have made their desired bets, the Round begins. Each round has two phases: Come Out and Point. To start a round, the shooter makes one or more Come Out rolls.
Payouts are sometimes made after each roll, and sometimes made after several rolls; see the individual Bet descriptions for details.
Craps Table Layout
We will delve more into the table layout features below in the Placing Bets section. On the Craps table there are two Dealers, a Stickman, and a Boxman.
The Stickman uses a long flexible stick to push the dice around the table, gathering the dice after rolls and pushing them to the player.
The Boxman is the person in charge of the game and has final decision-making authority.
The Dealers cash chips and ensure that bets are placed on the table correctly.
Placing Bets in Craps
Out of 990 decisions at the craps table, you can expect to lose 14 decisions more than you win.
As with any Casino game, there will invariably be swings, both large and small, either way when it comes to winning or losing. In the relatively short time you will be playing, there will be fluctuations in this house edge, so at times things will be going in your favor.
You can place bets at any time, the best time to start doing this is when a new Shooter starts. The first thing he needs to do is Establish a Point.
If a Shooter rolls a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 on his/her first roll, all other bets below can be made.
If a 2, 3 or 12 are rolled, all Players will win they are Come Out bets and the Shooter will continue rolling to establish a new Point.
If a 7 or 11 are rolled, all Players will lose their Come Out bets and a new Shooter will be designated.
Pass Line/Don’t Pass Line
When it is your turn to throw the dice, you must determine whether to bet the Pass line or the Don’t Pass line. Most Shooters, as well as most of the other players at the table, will bet the Pass line, as it is the basic bet in Craps.
The Pass line bet is an even-money bet that wins if you either roll a total of 7 or 11 on the Come-Out roll or if you throw a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 on the Come-Out roll and repeat that number before you roll a 7. The Pass line bet loses if the Come-Out roll is a 2, 3, or 12 (known as “craps”) or when a 7 is rolled before the established Point Number is repeated.
A Pass Line bet can be made at any time during a Shooter’s roll, even after he has established a Point. However, a bet placed on the Pass Line after a Point has been established is a very poor bet, since you have missed the opportunity to win on the Come-Out roll when the shooter throws a 7 or an 11. The only way you can now win is if the shooter repeats his point before he Sevens-Out.
Come Bets
A Come bet is identical to a Pass line bet, with one exception: A Come bet may be made on every throw of the dice once the Shooter has established a Point. A Come bet is made by placing the number of chips you wish to wager in the designated Come area of the table.
Once you place a Come bet, the very next roll of the dice becomes the Come-out roll for that bet. Therefore, if the Shooter rolls a 7, you will win even though Pass line betters will lose. If an 11 is rolled, you will win while the Line bets will not be affected. However, should one of the Craps numbers come up (2, 3 or 12) you will lose, but the Line bets will be unaffected.
If the Shooter throws one of the Box numbers on the first roll of the dice after you’ve made a Come bet, this number becomes an established Point for your Come bet. To win this bet, your Come point must be repeated before a 7 is rolled.
Once a Point has been established for your Come bet, the Dealer will move the chips you have bet to the corresponding numbered box on the layout to await a decision for that Point. When you win a Come bet, the Dealer will pay you off by placing your original bet, along with your winnings, in the Come section of the layout. If you do not immediately retrieve your chips, they will be in action on the next roll of the dice as a new Come bet (this is collected for you automatically when playing online).
The Don’t-Pass Line Bet
We know that a Pass line bet is simply a wager that the Shooter will win. But you also can bet that the shooter will fail to make a pass and thus lose.
The Don’t Pass line bet wins when the Shooter throws a Craps of 2 or 3, but not 12, on the Come-Out roll, or when he rolls a 7 before repeating his established Point number. This bet loses when the Come-Out roll is a 7 or 11, or when the Shooter repeats his Point number before rolling a 7.
The Don’t Pass line bet is the exact opposite of a pass line with one exception: Although a roll of 12 on the Come out loses for Pass line betters, it is not a winning number for Don’t Pass betters. It is a stand-off and neither wins nor loses. This is because if Don’t Pass betters were permitted to win in this situation, they would have an advantage over the house. So by barring (disallowing) the number 12 on the Come-Out roll, the casinos retain a small edge. Some casinos bar the number 2, but the effect is exactly the same.
Unlike a Pass line bet, a Don’t Pass bet can be removed after a Point number has been established on the Come-Out roll. Once a Point is established you have an advantage over the house, thus the casino has no objections to your taking down the bet. Of course, you should never do this. After going up against an 8 to 3 house edge on the Come-Out roll, you will have an overall average advantage of 18.8% after a Point has been established.
Laying the Odds
When the Shooter establishes a Point number on the Come-Out roll, players who have made Don’t Pass line bets are permitted to Lay the Odds. In the same way, Don’t Come bets are the exact opposite of Come bets (with the exception of a 12 is rolled on the Come bet), the Laying the Odds bet is the exact opposite of an Odds bet (which no exceptions).
Correct payoffs for Lay Odds bets are as follows:
Points 4 and 10 pay 1-to-2
Points 5 and 9 pay 2-to-3
Points 6 and 8 pay 5-to 6
Don’t Come Bets
Don’t Come bets can be placed on every throw of the dice after a Point has been established. After you have placed a Don’t Come bet, the very next throw of the dice becomes the Come-Out roll for that bet. If the Shooter rolls a Craps number of 2 or 3, you will win while Don’t Pass line betters will not be affected. If a 7 is rolled, you will lose and bets on the Don’t Pass will win. You also will lose if an 11 is thrown, although this number will not have a bearing on Don’t Pass bets. A roll of 12 is a stand-off.
Place bets on 6 and 8
A Place bet can be made on any of the Point numbers (4,5,6,8,9,10) at any time during a game and is simply a bet that one of these numbers will be rolled before the Shooter throws a 7. You cannot Take the Odds on Place bets.
Place bets on the 6 and 8 are paid off at 7-to-6 on correct odds of 6-to-5, which gives the casino an advantage of 1.51% on these numbers. To ensure that you receive the full 7-to-6 payoff on the 6 and 8, you must make your bet in multiples of six, such as $6, $12, $18, and so forth (this isn’t the case when playing online)
Place bets on the 5 and 9 carry a house advantage of 4%, and Place bets on 4 and 10 carry a house advantage of 6.6%.
Place bets on the 6 and 8 are paid off at 7-to-6 on correct odds of 6-to-5, which gives the casino an advantage of 1.51% on these numbers. To ensure that you receive the full 7-to-6 payoff on the 6 and 8, you must make your bet in multiples of six, such as $6, $12, $18, and so forth (this isn’t the case when playing online)
Place bets on the 5 and 9 carry a house advantage of 4%, and Place bets on 4 and 10 carry a house advantage of 6.6%.
Field Bets
This is a bet on the next number to be rolled. There are seven numbers inside the field area that if rolled, will result in a win. The numbers are 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 and 12. If you make a wager in the field and any of the above numbers show on the next roll you will win. In many Casinos and some online sites, you win double or even treble your bet if a 2 or a 12 are rolled.
Proposition Bets
These bets can be made at any time and, they are all one roll bets.
Any Craps: Wins if a 2, 3 or 12 is thrown. Payoff 7:1
Any Seven: Wins if a 7 is rolled. Payoff 4:1 Play pokie slots for free.
6 To 1 Craps Strategy
Eleven: Wins if a 11 is thrown. Payoff 15:1
Ace Duece: Wins if a 3 is rolled. Payoff 15:1
Horn Bet
: it acts as the bets on 2, 3, 11 and 12 all at once. Wins if one of these numbers is rolled. The payoff is determined according to the number rolled. The other three bets are lost.
Hardways Bets
This is a bet on a specific double coming out on the next roll. For example, if a player is putting money on the hard 6 the player is betting that the shooter will roll a 3,3. You can only bet on 2:2, 3:3, 4:4 or 5:5, and you are betting on a specific double to appear and not covering all of them.
Best Craps Bets
The best craps bets are the following:
Taking the Odds
When the Shooter establishes a Point on the Come-Out roll, any player who has made a Pass line bet is allowed to “take the Odds.” A single Odds bet is an additional bet, up to the amount of your original bet, that the Point number will be repeated before a 7 is rolled.
*Important* The “Odds Bet” is the best one you can make in the game because the house has no built-in advantage.
The Odds bet not only hasn’t any house edge associated with it, but also has no official designated space on the table. Therefore, to take the Odds, you must place the appropriate amount of chips behind your Pass line bet in the open area of the Craps layout (this is also the same when playing online).
The correct payoff for Odds bets varies from Point number to Point number, depending on the odds of a 7 being rolled before a particular point is repeated. Correct odds payoffs are as follows:
Points 4 and 10 pay 2-to-1
Points 5 and 9 pay 3-to-2
Points 6 and 8 pay 6-to-5
Craps Payouts
Bet | True Odds | Payout | House Edge |
---|---|---|---|
Pass Line/Come Bet | 251 to 244 | 1 to 1 | 1.414 |
Don’t Pass/Don’t Come Bet | 976 to 949 | 1 to 1 | 1.402 |
Pass Line Odds/Come Bet Odds/Buy Bets (5% commission) | |||
Numbers 4 or 10 | 2 to 1 | 2 to 1 | 4.76 |
Numbers 5 or 9 | 3 to 2 | 3 to 2 | 4.76 |
Numbers 6 or 8 | 6 to 5 | 6 to 5 | 4.76 |
Don’t Pass Odds/Don’t Come Bet Odds/Lay Bets (5% commission) | |||
Numbers 4 or 10 | 1 to 2 | 1 to 2 | 2.44 |
Numbers 5 or 9 | 2 to 3 | 2 to 3 | 3.23 |
Numbers 6 or 8 | 5 to 6 | 5 to 6 | 4.0 |
Field Bets | |||
3, 4, 9, 10, 11 | 18 to 7 | 1 to 1 | 5.5 |
2, 12 | 18 to 1 | 2 to 1 | 5.5 |
Place Bets | |||
Numbers 4 or 10 | 2 to 1 | 9 to 5 | 6.7 |
Numbers 5 or 9 | 3 to 2 | 7 to 5 | 4.0 |
Numbers 6 or 8 | 6 to 5 | 7 to 6 | 1.52 |
Hardways | |||
6 or 8 | 10 to 1 | 9 to 1 | 9.09 |
4 or 10 | 8 to 1 | 7 to 1 | 11.1 |
One Roll Bets | |||
Any 7 | 5 to 1 | 4 to 1 | 16.9 |
Any craps | 8 to 1 | 7 to 1 | 11.1 |
2 craps or 12 craps | 35 to 1 | 30 to 1 | 13.9 |
3 craps or 11 | 17 to 1 | 15 to 1 | 11.1 |
Horn Bet (3 or 11) | 9 to 1 | 3.75 to 1 | |
Horn Bet (2 or 12) | 18 to 1 | 7.5 to 1 | |
Big 6 or 8 | 3.6 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 9.09 |
You can find a bet summary here.
Continue to Part II – Advanced Craps Strategy & Tips
Related Articles:
Play Craps for Real Money
Play Craps for Real Money
The game of craps in California casinos doesn’t use dice. This might be confusing to some of my readers, so I thought I’d write a blog post about California craps games.
This post examines how craps in California is played and why the odds aren’t really any different — even though they’re using a different mechanism to arrive at the outcomes.
Also, if you love “shooting dice,” you might want to play craps in a different state.
You can play craps online for free, no matter which state you live in. And when you play for real money, you’ll get a 350% deposit bonus on your first deposit. WildVegasCasino.
Craps in California Is Played with Playing Cards, Not Dice
In some states, it’s illegal to use certain devices for gambling purposes. Until recently, Oklahoma didn’t allow spinning wheels or dice, but it did allow cards. They’ve recently changed their laws regarding that, so now you can shoot dice and play roulette in Oklahoma just like everywhere else.
Card Craps Oklahoma
But California still doesn’t allow casinos to use dice.
They still want to offer craps, though, so they use a deck of cards as a workaround.
You can use a deck of cards to duplicate the odds in a craps game in 2 different ways:
The more intuitive way for most players to understand is to have the ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of one suit represent one of the 2 dice, and to have the same set of cards for another suit represent the 2nd of those 2 dice.
You still have the same probability for each of the 2 “dice” this way — each number comes up 1 out of 6 times.
You also have the same bell curve that you’d see when rolling a pair of dice.
The other way is to have a deck consisting of 36 cards, each of which represents a possible outcome of a die roll. This is the method that the Winstar used until recently.
Why Are There 36 Possible Outcomes in California Craps?
There are 36 possible outcomes in craps of all kinds, not just in California craps. Understanding that is the key to understanding how craps probability works.
You only have 11 possible totals in craps:
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
But some totals can happen in multiple ways.
For example, a total of 2 can only happen in one way — you have to roll a 1 on the first die and also roll a 1 on the 2nd die.
Card Craps California
That’s also true for rolling a 12 — you have to roll a 6 on each die, and there’s only one way to do that.
But look at the probability of rolling a 3. You have 2 ways you can get an outcome of 3:
You can roll a 1 and a 2 OR you can roll a 2 and a 1.
It might not be immediately or intuitively obvious why that’s 2 different ways of accomplishing this, but that’s why you have a bell curve in craps.
The least likely totals are 2 and 12.
The totals of 3 and 11 are the next least likely outcomes.
Then 4 and 10.
And then 5 and 9.
Then 6 and 8.
Finally, the most common outcome is 7 — you have the following ways of getting a 7 on a roll of two dice:
- 1, 6
- 2, 5
- 3, 4
- 4, 3
- 5, 2
- 6, 1
No other combination of dice has that many possibilities.
An Example of California Craps at the Pala Casino
The Pala Casino uses a deck of 36 cards, each one of which is mapped to a combination of 2 dice. The craps dealer deals 2 cards, one in a blue box and one in a red box.
The shooter still gets to roll dice in this version. One of the dice is blue, the other, red.
The blue die has a 2 and a 3 on it — and no other numbers.
The red die has a 1 and a 4 on it — and no other numbers.
The die with the higher number determines which card determines the outcome of the throw.
It’s funny how the casino still uses dice, but they’ve added the cards to randomize the outcome for legal reasons. The Pala Casino’s version of craps probably “feels” more like craps than other versions.
You could, in fact, just draw a card from either of those decks and have an outcome in line with the probabilities involved in craps.
But that would make the gameplay so fast that it wouldn’t feel much like craps at all.
Craps at the Viejas Casino
When you play craps at the Viejas Casino, NO dice are used for any reason. This version of craps isn’t even played at a craps table. Instead, it’s played at a table that looks more like a blackjack table.
This version of craps uses 264 playing cards numbered 1 through 6 dealt from a continuous shuffling machine. The cards get put back into the shuffler after every roll.
But there’s a catch with the Viegas Casino craps:
Some of cards remain in the shuffle’s chute after each deal, so multiple rolls are dealt at one time.
What does this mean, probability-wise?
It slightly changes the odds by removing some of the possible outcomes. You just don’t know which outcomes have been removed.
The don’t pass bet becomes a better bet than it already is, so if you ever play at the Viejas Casino, stick with being a wrong bettor.
Why Are California Casinos Like This?
My daughters sometimes ask me, “Dad, why are you like this?”
They’re usually frustrated with me, and I get that. I’m frustrating, as people who are from a different generation often are.
But why are California casinos the way they are?
California passed a constitutional amendment in 2000 legalizing gambling on American Indian land. Each tribe negotiates its own arrangement (a “compact”) with the state government regarding what games and activities they can offer.
Some types of gambling are more acceptable than others.
California law is specific about one thing, though:
You can’t determine game results using dice. This would seem to eliminate craps because this law applies to Indian casinos.
The only way California casinos can offer craps at all is to modify their versions of the game to use playing cards instead of just dice. Even in casinos that allow the players to throw the dice, the outcome of the dice only determines which cards get drawn.
It’s a weird loophole. Casinos can use dice to determine part of the outcome, but the playing cards are like a buffer that keeps the dice from determining the final outcome.
Can You Count Cards in California Craps?
The first question that springs to my mind when I find out about card-game-based craps is whether I can get an edge at the game by counting cards.
This would be possible if you didn’t face a casino that shuffles the deck after every “roll of the dice.”
The way card counting works in blackjack is by keeping track of which cards have been dealt in a general way — high versus low. Aces and 10s in blackjack are considered high cards, and they’re better for the player. When a lot of them have already been played relative to the lower valued cards, you should bet the minimum.
But when a lot of low cards have been played when compared to the high cards, it’s time to raise your bets.
In other words, you don’t keep up with specific cards that have been played or that are left in the deck.
Theoretically, if you found a casino that didn’t shuffle the deck every time a card got played, you might be able to get an edge by betting one way or the other.
Imagine, if you will, a huge deck of cards where most of the cards that resulted in a 7 were already gone from the deck.
Would you know which bet would offer you an advantage in that situation?
That’s what I thought.
What’s the House Edge for Craps in California?
In Oklahoma, the casinos charge an ante for playing table games. That ante increases the house edge dramatically, but it’s based on how much you’re betting on each round. Usually, the bigger your bets are, the less of an effect the ante has on the house edge.
As far as I know, though, California craps doesn’t require an ante.
Since the odds of getting all the various results at a craps game in California are the same as they would be if you were rolling 2 dice, the house edge is the same, too.
Crap Card Game
In other words, stick with the pass, don’t pass, come, don’t come, and odds bets. All those bets have a house edge of less than 1.5%.
And you also want to avoid the prop bets that are also available in card-game-based craps. Stick with the simple, boring bets because those are the bets offering the best odds for the player.
In fact, the house edge on many of these proposition bets at the craps table is in excess of 10% and closes in on 20% in some instances.
Card Craps Vs Dice Craps
You don’t need to play games with such lousy odds, ever — in California, online, or anywhere else.
Finally
I hope I answered all your questions about craps in California. If I left anything out, or if you have something you’d like to add, I’d love to hear from you in the comments section.