How To Play Craps: Best Odds In The House

The craps table brings a fast tempo, coupled with the best odds in the house to the casino. Wild hand gestures, a seemingly foreign language, raucous laughter, and plenty of excitement surround the craps tables.

Don't let the complexity of the game or the wild-west atmosphere intimidate you. Craps is a people-oriented, social game, and you can play with confidence if you understand the two most common bets.

The mechanics of the game are simple: the shooter (the player who rolls the dice) throws a set of dice from one end of the table to the other, bouncing them off the far wall. When the dice come to a rest, the numbers on both dice are added together to arrive at the number. Bets are placed before the roll and paid after the roll. You need not wait for a new game to place a bet; you can place a mid-game bet before a roll begins. The shooter retains in control of the dice until the end of the game, unless losing on the first roll of the game (called the come out roll), in which case the shooter retains the dice for another game. The players take turns being the shooter, and the position moves clockwise for each new game. You may pass on your turn at shooter.

How To Play Craps : The Basics

	Each new shooter begins the game by throwing the dice. The first roll is the come out roll.
	If the shooter rolls a 7 or 11 (called a natural), the shooter wins, and the game is over.
	If the shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12 (called craps), the shooter loses, the game is over, but the shooter retains control of the dice. (Note: some casinos consider 12 a push rather than a loss.)
	If the shooter rolls any other number (called the point number), the shooter continues to roll until hitting the point number or rolling a 7.
	If the shooter rolls the point number before rolling a 7, the shooter wins. Hitting a 7 before hitting the point number means that the shooter loses.

How To Play Craps : Betting

There are over 40 different bets in craps , most of them based on odds. There are only two bets that you need to learn to get started and both pay even odds:

	Passline Bets (betting with the shooter) - If the shooter rolls a 7 or 11 (a natural) on the come out roll, passline bets win. If the shooter rolls a 2, 3 or 12 ( rolls craps ) on the come out roll, passline bets lose. If the shooter hits a point number instead, the passline bets that the shooter will hit the point number before hitting a 7.
	Don't Passline Bets (betting against the shooter) - If the shooter rolls 2, 3 or 12 on the come out roll don't passline bets win. If the shooter rolls a natural, don't passline bets lose. If the shooter hits a point number on the come out roll, the don't passline bets that the shooter will hit a 7 before hitting the point number.

In Las Vegas many variations including Letter X, Six Pack and Coverall Bingo are offered. Additionally, some places offer special progressive payouts as high as $10,000.