Craps

Game Basics

Craps can also be played in less formal settings and is said to be popular among soldiers.  The terms "on a roll", "crapshoot", "no dice", "crap out", "Snake Eyes" and "do it the hard way" all trace their origins to the game of craps. Craps is such a popular game, its terminology is often found as colloquialisms in our language.  Craps has a variety of bets, some which are resolved on every roll and some that take multiple rolls to resolve.  There are many types of bets you can place in craps: Some you win (or lose) on a single roll, some after a series of rolls. 

In craps, players wager money against the casino on the outcome of one roll, or of a series of rolls of two dice. The dealers will usually insist that the shooter roll with one hand and that the dice bounce off the wall surrounding the table.  The first roll in a round is called the Come out roll. Sometimes the outcome of a round will be determined on the Come out roll. In particular a 2, 3, 7, 11, or 12 on the Come out roll immediately ends a round. If any other total is rolled (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10) that number is called the Point. A white puck is placed on an area of the table to designate what the Point is, in case you forget. If a Point is rolled the dice will be rolled continuously until the same Point is rolled again or a 7.

Rules

According to official Craps rules, up to 16 players can play a craps game at one time. If a point is established then the shooter will re-roll the dice continuously until either a 7 is rolled, or the point is rolled again. 

On the come-out roll if the total of the two dice is 7, 11, 2, 3 or 12, the round ends immediately and the shooter must roll another come-out roll.  That means that if the shooter rolls a 7 on the come-out roll, any players with active come bets waiting for a come-point lose their initial wager but will have their odds money returned to them, if the come-point is rolled the odds do not win but the come bet does and the odds are returned.

If the shooter rolls a 7 instead of the point, this is called a 'seven-out', the round ends and the dice pass to the next player to the left, who becomes the new shooter.

The player can tell the dealer that they want their odds working, such that if the shooter rolls a number that matches the come point, the odds bet will win along with the come bet, and if a seven is rolled both lose.  Single Roll bets have a result in a single shooter roll. 

• Yo: Wins if the shooter rolls 11. 

• 3 (ace-deuce): Wins if the shooter rolls a 3. 

• 2 (craps aces): Wins if shooter rolls a 2. 

• Any seven: Wins if the shooter rolls a 7. 

• Hard way: You may bet that the shooter will throw a specific hard way (either 4, 6, 8 or 10), before he throws a seven or the corresponding easy way.

• Easy way: Opposite of hard way is a bet that the shooter will throw a specific easy way (either 4, 6, 8 or 10), before he throws a seven.

Most multi-roll bets are similar to the Come bet above in that the round may be won by the shooter making point before the outcome of the bet is decided.

In reality, each roll of the dice is an independent event, so the probability of rolling an eleven is exactly 1/18 on every roll, even if eleven has not come up in the last 100 rolls, or if eleven has come up 5 times in the last 5 rolls. 

If the dice roll is not the point rolled earlier and not a seven, then game moves on and the same shooter rolls the dice another time.

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