The table and the dice
A craps table is a tub with high walls, covered by a layout with a box for each bet. A boxperson supervises, a stickperson calls the game and the dealers pay and collect bets. Players take turns as the shooter: the shooter bets the Pass Line or Don't Pass and throws both dice at once, hard enough to hit the back wall.
What counts is always the total of the two dice, from 2 to 12. Seven is the most common roll: 6 of the 36 combinations make 7.
The come-out roll and the point
- The first roll of a round is the come-out roll. A puck marked OFF sits at the side of the table to show there's no point yet.
- On the come-out roll, 7 or 11 wins the Pass Line; 2, 3 or 12 (craps) loses.
- Any other number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10) becomes the point. The dealer flips the puck to ON and sets it on that number.
- Once the point is set, the shooter keeps rolling until the point or a 7 comes up. The point before a 7 wins the Pass Line; a 7 before the point (a seven-out) loses. Either way, the round is over.
- With the point set, other numbers don't decide the Pass Line, but they can decide other bets.
Pass Line and Don't Pass
- Pass Line
- Wins on a come-out 7 or 11 and loses on 2, 3 or 12. With a point, it wins if the point comes up before a 7. Pays 1 to 1. Once the point is set, it can't be taken down or reduced.
- Don't Pass
- The opposite: wins on a come-out 2 or 3, loses on 7 or 11, and 12 is a push (it's "barred"). With a point, it wins if a 7 comes up before the point. Pays 1 to 1. It can be taken down at any time, but not increased.
Come and Don't Come
Come and Don't Come work like the Pass Line and Don't Pass, but you make them after the point is already set. The next roll is their come-out roll: on Come, 7 or 11 wins and 2, 3 or 12 loses; on Don't Come, 2 or 3 wins, 7 or 11 loses and 12 is a push.
If any other number rolls, the dealer moves the chips to that number's box, and it becomes the point for that bet. Come wins if the number repeats before a 7; Don't Come wins if the 7 comes first.
Odds
Once the point is set, players with a Pass Line, Don't Pass, Come or Don't Come bet can back it with odds. Odds bets pay true odds, with no house edge. They're the best bet in craps.
- Taking odds (Pass Line and Come)
- On 4 and 10, they pay 2 to 1. On 5 and 9, 3 to 2. On 6 and 8, 6 to 5.
- Laying odds (Don't Pass and Don't Come)
- On 4 and 10, they pay 1 to 2. On 5 and 9, 2 to 3. On 6 and 8, 5 to 6.
Each casino sets its own odds limit. The most common is 3-4-5x the line bet: 3 times on 4 and 10, 4 times on 5 and 9 and 5 times on 6 and 8. In New Jersey, Come odds are off on the come-out roll unless the player calls them on.
Place bets
In the boxes along the top, you bet that a number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10) will roll before a 7. You can make a place bet at any time; it stays up after it wins, and you can take it down. On the come-out roll, it's off unless you call it on.
- 4 or 10
- 9 to 5.
- 5 or 9
- 7 to 5.
- 6 or 8
- 7 to 6.
The Field
The Field is a one-roll bet. It wins on 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 or 12 and loses on 5, 6, 7 or 8. It pays 1 to 1 on 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11 and 2 to 1 on 2 and 12. It looks like a lot of numbers, but the losing ones are the ones that roll most often.
Hardways
A hardway bet says an even number will roll as a pair (4 as 2 and 2, 6 as 3 and 3, 8 as 4 and 4, 10 as 5 and 5) before a 7 or the same number rolled the easy way (any other combination, like 1 and 3 for 4). It stays up after it wins and, in New Jersey, it's off on the come-out roll unless the player calls it on.
- Hard 4 or hard 10
- 7 to 1.
- Hard 6 or hard 8
- 9 to 1.
One-roll bets
These sit in the center of the table and are decided on the next roll. They pay a lot, but they carry the biggest house edge.
- Any Seven
- Wins on a 7. Pays 4 to 1.
- Any Craps
- Wins on 2, 3 or 12. Pays 7 to 1.
- 2 or 12
- Each is a separate bet. Pays 30 to 1.
- 3 or 11
- Each is a separate bet. Pays 15 to 1.
"To 1" means you get the payout and keep your bet. Some tables say "for 1," which includes your bet and pays one unit less.
No rolls and cocked dice
- A roll doesn't count if a die leaves the table, if the dice don't hit the back wall or if one lands in the dealers' chip rack. The stickperson calls "no roll," and the shooter rolls again.
- If a die comes to rest cocked, leaning on the wall or a chip, the face pointing most nearly up counts.
- If there's any doubt, the boxperson decides.
House edge
The house edge is how much of each bet the casino keeps on average over the long run. With the rules and payouts above:
- Odds
- 0%: they pay true odds.
- Don't Pass and Don't Come
- about 1.36%.
- Pass Line and Come
- about 1.41%.
- Place 6 and 8
- about 1.52%.
- Place 5 and 9
- 4%.
- Field (2 and 12 at 2 to 1)
- about 5.56%.
- Place 4 and 10
- about 6.67%.
- Hard 6 and hard 8
- about 9.09%.
- Hard 4 and hard 10, Any Craps, 3 and 11
- about 11.11%.
- 2 and 12
- about 13.89%.
- Any Seven
- about 16.67%.
Tips for beginners
- Start with the Pass Line and, once the point is set, back it with odds: it's one of the cheapest ways to play.
- Remember that 7 is the most common roll. On the come-out, it wins the Pass Line, but once the point is set, it wipes out the Pass Line, Come bets already on a number, place bets and hardways.
- If you bet the numbers, 6 and 8 have the lowest house edge.
- Treat one-roll bets as entertainment: they cost the most over the long run.
Craps variations
Rules vary from casino to casino: odds limits up to 100x; a Field that pays 3 to 1 on 12; buy and lay bets with a commission; and side bets such as the Fire Bet. There's also crapless craps, where 2, 3, 11 and 12 become points, and street craps, played among the players themselves with no house. Craps comes from hazard, an English dice game, and took its modern form in the United States.
On Selminha.com
The rules in Craps on Selminha.com
Craps on Selminha.com follows New Jersey rules. Here's what it uses and where it differs.
- Game mode
- Just you against the house, and you throw the dice yourself. There are no difficulty levels and no playing with friends.
- Money and chips
- You start with $2,000 in play money and bet with $5, $25, $100 and $500 chips. The minimum is $5.00 on line bets (Pass Line, Don't Pass, Come and Don't Come) and the Field, and the maximum is $500 per bet. Odds have their own limit.
- Rolling
- On the come-out roll, you need a Pass Line or Don't Pass bet to ROLL. Once the point is set, you can keep rolling even without a line bet.
- Pass Line and Don't Pass
- You can only make them on the come-out roll. After the point is set, the Pass Line stays up until it's decided; Don't Pass can be taken down.
- Come and Don't Come
- Only once the point is set. A Come bet that has moved to a number stays up until it's decided; Don't Come can be taken down.
- Odds
- Taking: up to 3 times the line bet on 4 and 10, 4 times on 5 and 9 and 5 times on 6 and 8. Laying: up to 6 times the line bet. Come odds are off on the come-out roll: if their number or a 7 rolls on the come-out, they're returned to you.
- Place bets, Field and hardways
- They pay as listed above. Place bets and hardways are off on the come-out roll and stay up after they win. In the Field, 2 and 12 pay 2 to 1.
- One-roll bets
- Any Seven, 4 to 1; Any Craps, 7 to 1; 2 and 12, 30 to 1; 3 and 11, 15 to 1.
- Payouts to the cent
- The main difference from a casino: here any amount is accepted and paid to the cent ($55 on place 6, which pays 7 to 6, wins $64.17). In a casino, place bets on 6 and 8 usually come in multiples of $6; other amounts are paid rounded down.
- The dice
- Every roll is really thrown: the force, the spin and the bounces off the back wall decide how the dice land, and nothing decides the result in advance. If a die lands on top of the other or misses the back wall, you roll again. A cocked die is read by the face pointing most nearly up.
- Buttons
- UNDO removes your last chip, CLEAR takes down the bets that can still come off the table and REBET repeats your bets from the last roll.
- End of the night and score
- CASH OUT ends the night, and your balance, in whole dollars, becomes your score on the TOP 5 leaderboard. If your balance can't cover the $5.00 minimum, the night is over.
Play money only: chips can't be bought or redeemed for real money.