Craps

Craps is a game that can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be, depending on the bets you’re placing. Craps is a table game played by several players, with one of the players (the one who rolls the dice) called the “shooter.” At its simplest, craps 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 the come out roll, players place what are called “pass line bets.” These bets depend 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: as mentioned above, 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 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 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.

 

Critical to the understanding of craps is that it is a game of rounds. The first roll in a round is called the come out roll. Sometimes the outcome of a round will be determined on the come out roll. In particular a 2, 3, 7, 11, or 12 on the come out roll immediately ends a round. If any other total is rolled (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10) that number is called the point. The dealer will place a white puck on an area of the table to designate what the point is, in case you forget. If a point is rolled the dice will be rolled continuously until the same point is rolled again or a 7.