Winning at Craps - A Starter Pack
You use two of them, so there are 36 combinations (6x6).
The possible combinations add up to totals of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.
Some totals have their own slang names, e.
g.
2 is "Aces or Snake eyes, or Two crap, 3 is Ace deuce or Three crap, 12 is, predictably, 12 crap.
You will hear the "Stickman" (the guy with the stick in the middle of the table) refer to a great deal of this slang during the game, best ask the dealer what he is talking about if you don't catch it straight away! If you want the quick and easy way to remember the odds, the lowest and highest numbers are less frequent than the ones in the middle! Agreed? Then read on...
(It's easy!) Craps, basic game If you stand at a Craps table long enough, you will be passed 5 transparent plastic dice, from which you are requested to choose two.
If you don't feel like taking your turn, then you can "pass the dice" and they will be offered to the person on your left, and so on, around the table.
If you choose to pick up the dice, you become the "Shooter", and the remaining three die are withdrawn and retained by the "Stickman".
The two that you selected will be left on the table in front of you.
You are required to place a bet on the "Pass" or "Don't pass" line in order to take you turn and throw the dice (i.
e be the "Shooter").
Now, why are you throwing them and what is a "Pass line" bet? We are going to keep it simple for the time being, so we are dealing with the "Pass line" bets, you are betting that you will win, keep the dice, and continue throwing until you (and the other players) break the bank! Your game of craps will go as follows: When you throw the dice, they must reach the "back wall" (the furthest end of the table), if you do not, or if the dice are are simply rolled along the layout, the Boxman (the guy in between the dealers acting like he is in charge) will call "No roll", the dice will be returned to you and you must throw again.
On the first roll (the "Come out" roll), your "Pass line" bet will win even money (the same amount that you played) if and only if, you throw a 7 or 11.
Great, but if you throw a 2,3 or 12 on the first roll, you lose.
Easy? Well yes, but there is the small omission of the rest of the numbers we mentioned earlier.
So...
if you throw a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, that's when the fun starts! Whichever of these numbers comes up, it is now called your "Point" and the dealers will place a round white puck on that numb to show which of these is the "Point".
You will also get to throw the dice again, because the real Craps game is just beginning.
Don't panic, your "Pass line" bet stays where it is, it doesn't lose and, for the time being, it doesn't win either.
It stays as it is and where it is until you either throw the "Point" number again, in which case you WIN! Or you throw a seven, and you LOSE.
Have you got that? Lets re-cap: There are 36 possible combinations from two dice, there are 11 totals that the two dice can produce (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12).
If you throw a 7 or 11 on the first roll, the "Pass line" wins, if you throw a 2,3 or 12, the Pass line loses.
If you throw any other number (the ones in bold above), the Pass line only wins when you throw that number again, before throwing a seven.
Note that it doesn't matter if it takes you the rest of your life, the only numbers that count are the Point, and the number seven.
If you are lucky enough, you will repeat the number and your pass line bet is paid at even money, you keep the dice, and the game starts again with you as the shooter.
If not, that is you throw a seven before the Point, the Stickman will call "Seven out", and your Pass line bet will lose.
The dice will now pass to the next player to your left.
If you got all that, then you are set to play, and you can bet with the best odds in the Casino too.
You can even take bets with NO house edge.
Not bad for five minutes of reading?That little bit of effort will save you a fortune.
How do you do that? Its easy.
Once you have a "Point", you can then play an "Odds" bet of any value up to that of your "pass line" bet.
You place this behind your "Pass line" bet on the outside of the layout.
You can do this anytime that the point is currently marked by the dealer.
You can even take it off again! If you now think that the point is not going to be thrown, you can take the bet back (but not while the dice are in the air).
In most casinos, you can even "call the bet off" even while the dice are in the air.
Why would you have an additional bet? Because, unlike any other bet in the casino, you will be paid at TRUE odds! For example when the point is 4 or 10, the true odds of "making the point" are 2:1 (6 ways of making a seven, versus three ways of making the point, so 2:1) Some casinos allow anything up to 100 times your Pass bet! All of that is paid at true odds! That's the end of the first lesson in "Winning at Craps", part two will follow soon.
Get your head around the odds for each point in the mean time.
(i.
e.
the 5 and 9 and the 6 and 8).
If you can work those out for yourself, then you will be ready for the next lesson.