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A TYPICAL GAME
A typical craps layout can have up to 12 people comfortably gathered around it, though if it’s a hot table, you can squeeze in more. All players get a chance to roll the dice as long as they’ve got money on the main bets, the pass line, or the don’t pass, but you’ll win or lose whether you’re rolling or not. Whoever’s rolling will keep rolling until they lose. If you don’t want to roll the dice when it’s your turn, just signal the stickman and he’ll push the dice to the next player.
A new round starts when there’s a new shooter, and the puck in the corner of the table is turned over to “off.” Before the first roll of the dice, or the come-out roll, players are invited to place their bets. We place $10 on the pass line, which is the main bet and best bet (with a low house edge of only 1.41 percent) and within easy reach of every player. The stickman pushes us several dice to choose from, and we pick two to roll with. Using only one hand, we throw the dice to the opposite end of the table, making sure that they bounce off the back wall to keep the roll random.
On the come-out roll, everyone who bet the pass line is hoping that you roll a 7 or an 11, also called a natural, as they’re automatic winners. The only numbers you don’t want to roll are 2, 3, and 12 - these are called craps and are all automatic losers. But let’s imagine that you happily oblige the crowd by rolling a 7. The dealer will pay you $10, and then it’s time to roll again. On your next roll, you get an 8, so the dealer turns the puck over to “on” and places it above the 8. Nobody who bet the pass line loses or wins anything on this turn, but the point has been established as 8.
To win now, you simply need to repeat the number and roll an 8 again. In fact, you can roll any other number, even the formerly forbidden 2, 3, and 12, but you cannot roll a 7.
On the come-out roll, nearly everyone roots for you to roll a 7, but after the point is established, the rolls reverse, and nearly everyone, especially the pass-line bettors, will lose if you roll a 7. In fact, after the point is established, it’s considered extremely bad luck for any player to even say the word seven during the roll. Play and win at the best online casinos.
And on it goes: You can roll lots of numbers - 4, 6, 2, 12, and 6 - without winning or losing anything. Since your bet is on the pass line, the only numbers you need to worry about are 7 and 8 (the point). Thankfully, you roll an 8, so everyone who bet the pass line (including you) gets paid, the puck gets turned to “off,” and a new come-out roll starts.
You leave your original $10 on the pass line and roll again. This time you roll a 3 craps, and automatically lose your pass-line bet but get to hold the dice for another round. You place $10 on the pass line again and roll several 7s in a row, automatically winning your pass line bet each time. Finally, you roll a 6, making that the point. Your next three rolls are 4, 8, and 9 before you finally roll the dreaded 7. When the 7 hits, all pass line bets lose (and many other bets that we’ll get to later), the dice pass to the next shooter, and everyone gets ready for another come-out roll.
And that’s it! If you never learned anything else about craps and only bet the pass line just as I described, you’d be better off than nine out of ten craps players, and you’d probably make more than 99 out of 100 craps players ever have. And if everyone bet just the pass line, there’s no way the casinos would be able to stay in business.
But Surely There’s More
Yes, unfortunately. There is much more to the game of craps for those brave souls who are willing to do a bit of digging. But let me say right up front that 90 percent of everything else about craps is crap. We can delve a little deeper into how to wring a bit more value out of your pass line bet, and there are a few other reasonably lucrative bets on the table - but trust me, the rest of the game is garbage.
