How To Play Craps

Craps is one of the fastest moving and most exciting games in the casino. It can also be one of the most intimidating to newcomers. Although the Craps table layout can be confusing, once you eliminate the bets you should avoid, the game becomes much easier to understand and enjoy. Luckily, the simplest bets are also the ones with the lowest House Advantage.

A full-size Craps table needs a crew of four casino personnel to run a game. At the center of the table is the Boxman who oversees all of the action and also settles disputes. Two Dealers stand on either side of the table. Their responsibilities include cashing players in and out, and collecting and paying off bets. The Stickman handles the dice and center bets. He also acts as the voice of the game, calling out rolls and winning bets.

The roll rotates among players. The Stickman will offer the player whose turn it is, or Shooter, 5 dice of which the Shooter chooses 2. The first roll of the dice is called the Come-Out Roll. A legal roll needs to hit the opposite side of the table and rebound. A player keeps control of the dice until he loses a roll.

A Come-Out Roll of 7 or 11 “wins” for the Shooter (he keeps control of the dice). A Come-Out Roll of 2, 3 or 12 “loses” for the Shooter (he loses control of the dice). If a Come-Out Roll is 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 the Shooter continues to roll until:

A. HE MATCHES THE COME-OUT ROLL
If this happens the Shooter keeps control of the dice and gets another Come-Out Roll. Or,

B. HE ROLLS A SEVEN
If this happens the Shooter loses control of the dice.

Rolling a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 on the Come-Out Roll is also known as “establishing a point”.