How to play Craps - UK Online Casino

How to Play Craps

Craps is a casino dice game played on a table with special layout. A craps table can accommodate up to twenty players at the same time, but the dice are rolled by one player only at a time, called a “shooter”.

Before a new game starts, all the players must have placed their bets on the table. The Craps table is divided into three areas – two on the sides and one in the centre. The side areas look the same, like mirror reflections of each other, they contain the pass line, don’t pass line, odds, come, don’t come, place and field bets. The centre area contains the proposition bets.

A new game starts after all bets are placed and the shooter makes the so-called “come-out” roll. The shooter must handle the dice with one hand only and they must both hit the other end of the table. If any or both dice fall off the table, the stickman (casino staff) must inspect them for damage before returning them to the table for further play.

The shooter must have made either a pass line or a don’t pass line bet. In the first case, if the total of the dice numbers after he has made the come-out roll is 7 or 11, he (and all other players with the same bet) wins automatically a payoff of one to one on his bet, this betting round is over, and he is offered to throw the dice again after making another bet. If the total is 2, 3, or 12, he (and all other players with the same bet) loses automatically and the dice are offered to the next player standing at the shooter’s left to make the next come-out roll. If the shooter rolls any other total except for the above-mentioned (any of 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10), it is called a point (i.e. the total becomes the “point”) and the shooter must throw the dice again. There are some bets that can be placed now before the shooter’s second throw. If he rolls the point in the second throw, that is if he got 4 at his come-out roll for instance, and he rolls 4 again, he wins 1:1 on his bet. If 7 comes up first, he loses.

As mentioned above, the shooter may also have made a don’t pass line bet, which is almost the exact opposite of a pass line bet. The shooter loses at 7 or 11, wins at 2 or 3, and at 12 it is a “push” (he gets his money back). It is also the opposite with the point rule compared to the pass line bet – rolling the point before 7 makes the shooter lose. It is important to remember here that don’t pass line bets can be reduced or cancelled after a come-out roll as opposed to pass line bets.

It is recommended to start playing Craps by making pass line bets only until you get used to the game, then start playing odds on pass line bets. To make an odds bet on a pass line bet on the point, place the odds bet behind the pass line bet. Odds bets are riskier, but pay off better.

The next bets to master are the come bets, they are the same as the pass line bets, but they can be made only after the point is established. Playing don’t pass line bets and don’t come bets should be the next thing for you to try. There are a couple of other bets, place, field, big six, big eight and proposition bets that will be easy for you to learn after mastering the basic bets.