Official Craps Rules

In the early days of the Roman Empire , soldiers began to amuse themselves betting on the roll of a dice. Centuries have passed, but these ancient games live on in the form of Craps , one of the most exciting table games in any casino.

Craps is the simplest of casino games to play properly, and offers the best odds of any game except baccarat. But to a beginner, the game seems very confusing – dice flying, chips everywhere, 3 casino workers in tuxedos, and strange terminology... But let's clear that all up by playing a little imaginary game.

 

Rules of the Game

The basic rules of craps are simple. Roll a pair of six-sided dice and try to get a 7 or 11 on your first roll without getting a 2, 3, or 12. If you get the 7 or 11, everyone at the table wins the basic bet, called the pass line. If you don't get it, no problem. Say the dice lands on an 8 instead.

That becomes the “point” and you keep rolling the dice. Now your goal is to roll 8 again before you roll a 7. If you roll the 8, you win the basic bet. If not, you lose, and the dice go to the next player.

 

Types of Bets

Would you believe there are 12 possible bets you can make in Craps ? It's true. Fortunately for us, there are only 2 mathematically correct ways to bet this game – if you do the math, you'll find that all the other wagers are “sucker bets.” For that reason, we aren't even going to discuss here. If you see other players betting things like “Big 8” and “Six the Hard Way ,” “Any Craps” or “The Field,” just chuckle to yourself and ignore them. If you follow this simple guide, you'll be betting in the best possible manner to win consistently against the house.

The 2 bets we are going to make are called “pass line” bets and “come line” bets. They are almost identical wagers, and we'll discuss each one as we play our sample game. We are also going to make a “follow-on” bet called the “odds” which is just a way of increasing our original bet.

 

How It's Played

Let's step up to the table and get some chips from the dealer. This is a $5 table, so let's give the table attendants $100 and they'll give us 20 $5 chips.

 

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