If you walk through any major casino, you will immediately notice one game that is completely chaotic and more energetic than any other game in the building. People are screaming, high-fiving strangers, and cheering as the dice bounce across a massive table. This loud, complex game is known as Craps. To an absolute novice, the betting layout looks like an alien language. There are confusing boxes and numbers, and players are throwing chips everywhere. However, this is actually a massive illusion. Despite the crazy layout, craps is actually one of the simplest, and most mathematically player-friendly games in the entire casino. If you can ignore the noise and learn one single bet, you can play craps like a seasoned professional.
The Only Bet You Need to Know: How the Game Starts
The absolute best way to survive the craps table is to look away from the center of the board. The weird proposition bets are terrible traps designed specifically to drain your bankroll. You only care about one line wrapping the table: the "Pass Line". Betting on this line is the fundamental core of the entire game. When a new shooter gets the dice, the person rolling the dice (the "Shooter") makes the Come-Out Roll. If you have a bet on the Pass Line, you instantly win even money if the Come-Out roll is a 7 or an 11. You lose immediately on a 2, 3, or 12. It is truly that simple: Win on 7/11, lose on craps.
Establishing the Point: What Happens on a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10?
But what happens if the Come-Out roll is not a winner or a loser? If the dice land on a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, that number is now the Point. The dealer will take a large plastic puck and flip it to the "ON" side directly onto that specific number on the table layout. The rules of the game now completely change. To secure a win, the player keeps rolling until that specific number hits. When the Point rolls, the table cheers and wins. Here is the danger: if a 7 is rolled prior to the Point, the round ends. Every single Pass Line bet instantly loses, the game resets, and a new shooter takes the dice. The whole table is a group effort praying the shooter hits their Point before rolling a deadly 7.
The Secret Odds Bet: Once a Point is established, you can back up your bet. This is the Odds bet and it is the only wager with absolutely zero house edge. The casino makes zero profit on this bet. The Villain Bet: You can also bet against the shooter. You win when others lose, or when the shooter sevens out. It is technically a smarter bet, but nobody will high-five you because you are cheering for everyone else to lose. Avoid the Center of the Table: The 'Hardways' and 'Any Seven' bets with the pictures of dice are sucker bets that will drain your cash. Do not touch those bets.
Craps Basics Cheat Sheet: The Only Rules You Need
To simplify the game, as easy and stress-free as possible, review the simple cheat sheet below. It explains the basic rules of the only bet you will ever need to make: the Pass Line.
Phase of the GameWhat the Shooter RollsWin or Lose Come-Out RollA NaturalYou instantly WIN even money. The round resets. The StartCrapsYou instantly LOSE your bet. The round resets. Setting the PointShooter rolls a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10.The puck flips ON The Ongoing GameShooter rolls the exact Point number again BEFORE rolling a 7.You WIN your Pass Line bet (and any Odds bets). Round resets. Trying to Hit the PointThe Deadly 7You LOSE your bet. The round completely ends. Dice pass to next player.
To wrap it up, do not let the loud table intimidate you. The casino purposefully designs the table layout to look incredibly complex and confusing so that amateur players will make bad bets. When you arrive, betting only on the Pass Line, backing it up with maximum True Odds, and playing smart math, you are playing the best game available. Grab the dice, throw them against the back wall, and have the best social gambling experience Las Vegas has to offer.