Brief Guide through History of Craps

Looking for the simplest definition to describe it, many punters would say that real money craps is a table game which requires no skills and offers the lowest house edge. To shoot dice, one needs to know just some basic wagers and odds betting, as they say.

Having that on our minds, could we say that craps is more than suitable for players who are just getting started?

In a way, yes, because there’s no particular strategy which should be followed, like for example, in video poker or Roulette. However, trying to EXPLAIN all the bets and how they work is an entirely different story.

That’s where our handy instruction manual steps in, as we shall try to guide you through this game step by step and introduce you with its basics. Stay tuned to learn more about the craps!

Top 4 Craps Casinos

Brief Guide through History of Craps

In 1788 there was “Krabs” (later spelled Crabs), an English variation on the dice game Hasard (also spelled Hazard). Craps developed in the US as a simplified version of the western European game of hazard. Its name derives from an underclass Louisiana mispronunciation of the word “crabs”.

For a century after its invention…

…the game was abused by casinos using unfair dice. To tackle the problem, in approximately 1907 a dice maker named John H. Winn in Philadelphia introduced a layout that featured bets on Don’t as well as . This innovation, used in modern venues, prevents the usage of unfair dice.

Craps exploded in popularity during WW II, when most young American men of every social class were brought into the military. The street version of the game was popular among service who often played it using a blanket as a shooting surface.

After 1960 a few casinos in Europe, Australia, and Macau began offering craps and since 2004, it expanded in its online version all over the globe.

How Does Craps Game Look Like?

Looking for the simplest words to describe, here’s how a session looks like. Gamblers bet on the outcome of a 2-dice roll. The two 6-sided dice must the line and hit the back wall of the craps table. The point of the line bet is to hit either a 7 or 11 and not have the dice equal 2, 3, or 12.

If any of these contingencies happen…

…the bets are resolved. Any other number which occurs (4-6 or 8-10) sets a “point”, and this point becomes the number you hope to roll again. So if you rolled a 3-3, 4-2, or 5-1 on the line bet, the point would be 6 and you would need to roll that again before rolling 7.

Since the 7 can be made with a 1-6, 2-5, 3-4, 4-3, 5-2, or 6-1, this number is more likely to occur than the 6, providing a house edge.

Both land-based or online versions function in the same way, except that when in a brick and mortar venue, punters get to share the euphoria, they win and lose together, and that’s what makes the game particularly interesting and dynamic.

And of course…

…when playing a real-l    ife version, you have Boxman (an employee who controls the game), and a Stickman (the one who calls the numbers and controls the dice), along with two dealers and a bunch of players. In the online option you cannot toss the dice.

There’s also a vivid slang and terminology used during the game which describes the types of bets or combination of numbers on dice.

Learning the Basic Bets

bet

This is one of the basic, and most frequently used ones- probably the very first as well. A player places his/her bet on the marked line (on a real or online table), and dice can be rolled. This initial roll is known as the Come Out roll. Here are the three possible scenarios that will happen:

• Roll is a 7 or 11: A player wins even money.
• Roll is a 2, 3, or 12: A player loses.
• Roll is a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10: A player gets the “Point.”

If the bet is resolved with a 2, 3, 7, 11, or 12, then the next roll will be a new Come Out Roll.

At this point, after a Point is rolled…

…the object is to roll that point again before a roll of seven. If the Point is rolled first, a punter wins even money. If the seven is rolled first, a punter loses.

Do have in mind that a player is allowed to make a bet when it isn’t a Come Out roll, but one should avoid that. That’s because a bet has a 22.22% chance to win on the first roll and only 11.11% chance to lose. If a bet is made late, a player gives up on that first roll privilege.

Don’t

Being the opposite variant of the bet, it has one important exception- if a 12 is rolled on the Come Out roll, it isn’t a win, but just a push.

To make this type of bet…

…one should wait for a Come Out roll and then put it on the Don’t line. This results in a probability of winning of 47.93%, losing 49.29%, and a tie 2.78%. The house edge is a little lower than the line bet at 1.36%.

While betting on the after a Come Out roll is allowed, it is definitely not on the Don’t , as it would give the player a large advantage.

Odds

The Odds bet is a supplemental, in-progress, bet you can make after a Point is established, in case you have already made a , Don’t , Come, or Don’t Come bet. It’s one of the two bets a punter can make with no house advantage.

If one bets on a point after a bet, it is called Taking the Odds. If one bets against a point after a Don’t bet, it is called Laying Odds. In both cases, the odds are statistically fair, with no house edge.

There is no designated area on the table for the Odds bets…

…probably because the casino is more interested in drawing players’ attention to the bets with a higher house advantage. For an Odds bet after a Don’t bet, it is placed just below the Don’t line. Keep in mind that the Odds bet on a or Don’t can never be made on a Come Out roll.

Come

The Come bet works exactly like the bet, except it can be made at any point excluding a Come Out roll. If a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 is rolled on the next throw, then that total will be a separate point for purposes of that Come bet.

Odds bets can be made after Come bets…

… in the same manner as a bet. If a Come Out roll causes a Come bet to win or lose, then any Odds bet associated with it will be returned as a push.

Don’t Come

This one closely mirrors the Don’t bet and is played in two rounds. Thus, if 7 or 11 are rolled on the first round, one loses, but if the two Craps numbers 2 or 3 are rolled, that Don’t Come bet will win.

Place and Buy Bets

Many craps players are impatient to get a bet down on a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 and don’t want to wait on establishing a point with a Come bet to do so. For those players, you can do so with Place and Buy bets.

Place bets are those on the 6 or 8 win if the selected total is rolled before a 7. These bets will stay active until either event happens or the player takes down the bet.

Winning Place bets pay 7 to 6 odds…

…and the probability of winning is 45.45% and the house edge is 1.52%. Place bets on the 5 or 9 work the same way but pay 7 to 5 odds. The probability of winning is 40% and the house edge is 4.00%.

A bet on a 4 or 10 is known as a “Buy” bet instead of a Place bet but works much the same way.

Winning bets pay 2 to 1, less a 5% commission based on the bet amount if the player wins. This equates to 39 to 20 odds. The probability of winning is 33.33% and the house edge is 1.67%.

The opposite of Place and Buy bets are called Lay Bets, but they are almost never made in live casinos.

Why are Sucker Bets Called Like That?

Apart from these above-described, every other bet in craps is known as a proposition or sucker bet. They all carry a house edge of 9.09% to 16.67% and that’s the main reason why a player should avoid them at all costs.

Some of the examples include:

• Hard Way Bets-Betting the “hard way” forces a player to hit a number by pairing the dice. So it’s not enough to roll an 8–you need a pair of 4s. You wouldn’t want to roll a 6, but roll two 3s. If you rolled a 2 and a 4, you would still lose.
• Any Seven– There are six ways to roll a seven (1-6, 2-5, 3-4, 4-3, 5-2, and 6-1) out of a total of 36 possible outcomes. Thus, the probability of winning is 6/36 or 1/6. House edge in the is 16.67%, in the UK and Australia 8.33%.
• Any Craps– The “craps” numbers are those that cause a bet to lose on the first roll, namely a 2, 3, or 12. Any Craps bets win on any of those three totals. There are four ways to win (1-1, 1-2, 2-1, and 6-6) for a probability of winning of 4/36 or 1/9. Wins pay 7 to 1, or 8 for 1, for a house edge of 11.11%.

There are also Easy and Hard hop bets, World (Whirl) bet, Horn, and many more, but what all of them have in common is a terrible house edge, therefore- steer clear.

Which are the Best Bets to Place?

We said this game has no complicated strategy, but it certainly doesn’t mean newbies should get involved with some “wilder” bets immediately. When testing the game in demo mode, the punter should try as many different types of bets as possible to see how they work, but in real money mode- those should be limited to , come, and odds bets.

Why so?

One of the main reasons is a player-friendly house edge, which makes it the second-best proposition one can make in the game, particularly when being a beginner.

The Truth behind Dice Control Theory

The main idea behind this controversial theory advocated by gambling writers is a player can hold and throw the dice in such a way to limit rotations, making it more likely that the dice lands on certain numbers more often. A few demonstrations have provided limited evidence these techniques might work, but no evidence exists to prove or disprove such ideas.

Some of the most famous proponents of this theory are…

… Chris Pawlicki, Stanford Wong, and Jerry L. Patterson. On the other hand, one more renowned expert Michael Shackleford doesn’t rule out the possibility that this “technique” might work but is quite skeptical about it. However, he did give more than fine analysis on expectations.

How do casinos feel about the dice control/ dice setting?

They are concerned about dice control techniques, which is one reason shooters are allowed to hold the dice with one hand only, instead of two. Rules which require shot dice to hit the back wall of the table are meant to assure randomness.

Given the fact that dice setting is a mechanical and not mathematical issue–and thus in the gambler’s and not the casino’s control–some see it as having more credence than disproved betting theories like the Martingale technique.

Final Thoughts

As you could see, explaining craps is a bit challenging task to do, but playing it is not at all- or at least significantly less puzzling than trying to describe it.

Knowing that there are only three casino games…

…where you can get the house edge under 1% are blackjack, craps, and video poker, giving it a try is a fine option, if one is interested. Online venues five a great opportunity to test it in demo mode, so one could easily get a real picture of how the game looks and how all the bets work before opting to play in real money mode.

Frequently Asked Questions