Casino Craps – Basic Rules of Craps

Craps is an exciting casino game in which players bet on the outcome of the roll of two dice. It is an action-filled game with plenty of shouting and noise.

The Craps Table
Up to twenty players can play a game of craps at one time and they all stand around a symmetrical table that allows the same bets to be placed on either side. Besides for the players, there are a number of casino employees who are stationed around the table as well. Firstly, there is the boxman whose purpose is to guard the chips on the table, supervise the two dealers and color the gamblers. The dealers pay out winnings to the players. Finally, the fourth casino employee is the stickman. It is the stickman's job to call out the results of the dice roll, collect the dice with a long stick (thus his name) and control the bets placed in the center of the table.

Beginning a Game of Craps
Players must place their bets onto the craps table betting on the outcome of the throw of the two dice. The players each have a turn to throw the dice and when playing this position, the player is known as a shooter. Once the shooter has successfully thrown the dice, the stickman calls out the results and the dealers pay out the bets to the players.

Bets in a Game of Craps
There are many different types of bets that can be placed in a casino game of craps.

Name of Bet	Includes Bets:	Win	Lose
Come Bet		Come out roll* is 7 or 11	Come out roll is 2, 3 or 12
Don't Come Bet		2 or 3 is thrown	7 or 11 is thrown
Pass Line Bet		Point number** thrown before 7	7 thrown before point number
Don't Pass Line Bet		7 thrown before the point number	Point number thrown before 7
Place Bets		A specific chosen number comes up before a 7	7 comes up before your specific chosen number
Field Bets/ Single Roll Bets	yo, three (ace-deuce), two (craps aces), 12 (craps), 2 or 12 (hi-lo), craps, C & E, any seven, field, the horn, the whirl or world bet	2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 or 12 are thrown	5, 6, 7, 8 are thrown
Multi Bets	hard way, easy way, big 6, big 8, place and buy or lay bets	May require a combination of rolls – certain number must come up before 7	7 comes up before the specific number
Fire Bets	Placed on the luck of the next shooter	Shooter has a hot streak of various numbers	Shooter does not thrown high valued numbers
Pass Odds Bets	Can place bet up to three times original bet	Placed on pass line bet	Placed on pass line bet
Don't Pass Odds Bets	Can place bet up to three times original bet	Placed on don't pass line bet	Placed on don't pass line bet

* first roll of the dice
** number thrown on come out roll if it is not a 2, 3, 7, 11 or 12

Basic Strategy and Tips for Craps
In order to increase your chances of success in craps, you need to decrease the house odds as much as possible. In order to do this, you should place bets according to the odds they have. The bets with the lowest house edge (1.4%) and therefore the highest player advantage are pass bets, don't pass bets, come bets and don't come bets. Single roll bets tend to have the highest house edge and are therefore not recommended.