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Casino Craps Rules

Games of chance involving "dice" have been around since the dawn of civilization. The earliest dice were probably shaped from animal bone or carved from hardwoods like ebony and oak. We know that Roman soldiers tossed pig knuckles onto their shields more than two thousand years ago in a game some called "bones". But where did Craps come from - and how did it get that name?

The answer to both questions is certainly open to debate, but here is one take on the convoluted journey from pig knuckles to a casino classic:

Arabs adopted the Legionnaire's pastime of "throwing the bones" (tossing dice) when they expanded into former Roman provinces. They called their small, numbered cubes "azzahr". At some time during trade with Europeans in the Middle Ages, this dice game came back across the Mediterranean to be adopted by the French as "hasar" or "hasard". During the interminable wars between France and England during the 13th and 14th Centuries, English knights brought the game home as "hazard" - meaning to take a chance or to put at risk (as in "hazard a guess").

As the English played the game, they called the lowest roll "crabs". In the aftermath of yet another war, French soldiers picked up this variation from their English prisoners but, maintaining their linguistic independence, used the French word "crabes". Early in the 18th Century, French colonists took the game to the Canadian wilderness. As England extended its reach north from the American colonies, some of the displaced French-speaking Canadians migrated to Louisiana where, by the end of the century, a simplified version of Hazard lost its English name and became known simply as "creps", the Cajun spelling of crabes.

As Cajun riverboat men journeyed up the Mississippi, the venerable dice game was again introduced to English speakers, this time American frontiersmen, who adopted the game and corrupted the name to "craps". As Americans spread out across the West, they made craps a mainstay of every saloon and casino in the land. After the U.S. Civil War, a dice maker introduced an innovation that made imperfectly manufactured dice a non-issue: players could bet for or against the roller. As the popularity of craps continued to grow, various bets (like the Hardways and Horn bets) were incorporated to add some spice and give players more ways to win.

Today, craps is one of the most popular games in any casino. Craps tables are easy to spot on the casino floor - they're the ones where large crowds have gathered round to watch the thrilling action in rapt fascination.

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Casino Craps Rules - Overview

In Craps, a shooter throws a pair of dice to establish a Point - and bets are made as to whether the shooter can repeat the Point before a 7 is rolled.

The series of throws to establish and repeat the Point is called a round. Each round starts on a Come Out roll. This is the roll where the shooter attempts to establish the Point. A pair of dice can make totals ranging from 2 to 12, but only totals of 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 can be the Point. Totals of 2 (snake eyes), 3 (cross eyes) and 12 (box cars) are called craps, but a total of 7 or 11 is called a natural.

During Come Out, rolling craps or a natural will immediately end the round, whereas a total of 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 establish the Point to keep the round open. If the Point is established, we move into the midgame part of the round and the shooter continues to throw the dice until either the Point is rolled again or a total of 7 is rolled - either of which will end the round.

There can be any number of throws between the Come Out roll and the end of the round. If a 7 comes before the Point, the shooter sevens out and the dice are passed to another player for the start of the next round. On the other hand, if the shooter hits the Point, he or she can elect to keep rolling for the next round. A shooter who rolls a 2, 3 or 12 on the Come Out roll craps out and passes the dice to the next player. Rolling a natural on Come Out (7 or 11) lets the shooter keep the dice for another Come Out roll.

There are a variety of bets that can be made on each throw, some are conditional and some are bets against a specific result. Some bets can stay on the table for the entire round, some bets span rounds and some are only viable for a single throw. All the variability makes craps interesting, fascinating and fun to play.

The best way to start playing Craps is with a Pass Line bet on the Come Out roll. A 7 or 11 on Come Out make it an immediate winner, paying 1-to-1. If a Point is established, then the Pass Line bet will pay 1-to-1 if the Point is repeated before a 7. The next section explains all bet options in detail.

Casino Craps Rules — Bet Options

Pass Line
Also known as the Front Line, a Pass Line bet wagers that the shooter will roll the Point before a 7. To qualify, you must place your Pass Line bet before the Come Out roll. (The dealer will announce "Place your bets for the Come Out roll." to let you know when you can make a Pass Line bet.) A natural Come Out roll (i.e. a 7 or an 11) is an immediate winner for the Pass Line bet. If the Come Out roll craps out (with a 2, 3 or 12) the Pass Line loses.

Any other Come Out result (4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10) becomes the Point, and a puck labeled ON is positioned above the corresponding numbered column to indicate that the Point has been established. When the Puck is ON, Pass Line bets win if that Point is rolled and lose if a 7 is rolled. Winning bets pay 1-to-1.

Unresolved Pass Line bets may not be modified or removed; they are committed until the end of the round. Once the Point is established, only another roll of the Point or a roll of 7 can end the round. When the puck is flipped to OFF and moved back to the upper left-hand corner of the table, you know the round has ended and the next roll will be a Come Out roll.

Don't Pass Bar
Also known as the Back Line, the Don't Pass is the opposite of Pass: it wins if the shooter rolls a 7 before the Point, and loses when the Point comes up before a 7. To qualify, it must be placed in the Don't Pass bar prior to the Come Out roll. On Come Out, Don't Pass wins on 2 or 3, loses on 7 or 11 and is a push on 12 - any other number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) establishes the point. Winning bet pays 1-to-1.

Come Bet
Available once the Point has been established, the operation of Come Bets is similar to Pass Line bets. Come Bets win if the next roll is a natural (7 or 11) and lose if it's craps (2, 3 or 12). Any other total (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) becomes the Come Point, and the Come Bet is committed to that number until it or a 7 is rolled. There is no puck for Come Points, so the Come bet is moved from the Come bar to the box corresponding to the Come Point. Thereafter, the Come bet wins if the Come Point is rolled before a 7, and loses if a 7 is rolled before the Come Point. Winning bet pays 1-to-1.

Once committed to a Come Point, the Come Bet will stay in place until the Come Point or a 7 is rolled. Unresolved Come Bets may not be removed or modified - they must be resolved by a roll of the Come Point or a 7. Thus, a Come Bet will persist after the end of a round if the round is concluded by a roll of the Point (when the Point is a different number than the Come Point). If the round is concluded by a 7, all Come Bets lose.

During a round of Craps, you can make as many Come bets as you like. Note that when you place a Come bet and the next roll matches an existing Come Point, the pre-existing Come bet is resolved as a win, and the new Come bet is moved up to take its place in the Come Point box.

Don't Come Bet
Don't Come bets are available once the Point has been established. They are similar to Don't Pass bets and the opposite of Come bets: they win when the next roll is a 2 or 3, lose on 7 or 11 and push on 12. If a Come Point is established (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10), the Don't Come bet is moved to the top box corresponding to the Come Point number. From then on, the Don't Come bet wins if a 7 is rolled before the Come Point, and loses if the Come Point is rolled. Once established by a Come Point, Don't Come bets will stay in place until resolved (therefore they may also persist beyond the end of a round), but unlike Come Bets they may be removed or modified prior to being resolved. Winning bet pays 1-to-1.

Field Bet
A Field Bet is a special one roll bet that wins if the total on the next roll is among the numbers shown in the Field box (2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 or 12), and loses if the roll is a 5, 6, 7 or 8. It pays even money on 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11, and pays double on 2 and 12. Field Bets can be placed before any roll.

Big 6 and Big 8 Bets
A Big 6 is a bet that a 6 will be rolled before a 7, and a Big 8 bets that an 8 will be rolled before a 7. Big bets pay even money if the shooter rolls their respective number before a 7 and lose if a 7 is rolled first. Big bets are active during the Come Out roll as well as any other roll, and they may persist beyond the end of a round (i.e. when a round ends on a Point roll of 4, 5, 9 or 10). They may be placed, modified or removed at any time before any roll.

Place Bets
With Place Bets you are either betting for or against a specific point number to appear before a 7. Place Bets may persist beyond a round and are always active, even during the Come Out roll. They may be placed, modified or removed at any time before any roll.

Place to Win
This bets that the chosen number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10) will appear before a 7. The bet is placed in the bottom box for a given number as indicated by the Place Bets: To Win label. Place to Win bets are resolved according to the following table:

Place Against
This bets that a 7 will appear before the indicated number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10), thus placing the bet against that number. The bet is placed in the second highest box for a given number as indicated by the Place Bets: Against label. Place Against bets are resolved according to the following table:

Buy Bets
A Buy bet wagers that the indicated number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10) will appear before a 7 is rolled. Buy bets are similar to Place to Win bets in that they win if the chosen number appears before a 7. The difference is that winning Buy bets pay true odds after a 5% vigorish (fee) is taken from the wager amount. Unlike most casinos that collect vigorish when you place your bet, we don't collect it until you win. Buy bets may persist beyond a round and they are always active - even during the Come Out roll. They may be placed, modified or removed at any time before any roll. Buy bets are resolved according to the following table:

Lay Bets
A Lay bet wagers that a 7 will appear before the indicated number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10), thus you lay against the number. In that sense, Lay bets are similar to Place Against bets. The difference is that winning Lay bets pay true odds, less a 5% vigorish (fee) on the net winnings. Lay bets may persist beyond a round and they are always active - even during the Come Out roll. They may be placed, modified or removed at any time before any roll. Lay bets are resolved according to the following table:

Hardways
These are bets that the shooter will roll the indicated number (4, 6, 8 or 10) as a matched pair (doubles, i.e. the hard way) before either a 7 or the indicated number the easy way (i.e. not as a double. For example: a Six as 5+1or 4+2 rather than as a 3+3). Hardway bets are always active - even during the Come Out roll. They may be placed, modified or removed at any time before any roll. Hardway bets are resolved according to the following table:

One Roll Bets
This is a group of high payout bets that are valid for one roll only, thus they do not persist beyond the next roll. They may be placed, modified or removed before any roll.

Any Seven
Bets that the next roll will be a 7, made from any combination (1+6, 2+5, 3+4, 4+3, 5+2, 6+1). If a 7 comes up on the next roll, bet pays 5 for 1 (4-to-1). Loses on any other number.

Any Craps
Bets that one of the craps numbers (2, 3 or 12) will hit on the next roll (can be any roll, doesn't need to be a Come Out roll). Winning bet pays 8 for 1 (7-to-1). Bet loses if any number other than 2, 3 or 12 comes up on the next roll.

C & E Bets
The C bet is just another way to place an Any Craps bets. Clicking any C spot will place that bet on the lowermost C, and it pays 8 for 1 (7-to-1) on any craps (2, 3 or 12) and loses on all other numbers. Similarly, the E Eleven or Yo bet is just another way to place an 11 Horn bet (5+6 or 6+5). Clicking any E spot will place that bet on the lowermost E, and it pays 16 for 1 (15-to-1) if the next roll is 11 and loses on all other numbers.

C & E Split
Placing a chip on the horizontal bar connecting the C and E spots allows you to cover both Any Craps and Any Eleven bets with a single wager. Clicking any C-E bar will place that bet on the topmost C-E bar. Bet wins if 2, 3, 11 or 12 appear on the next roll, and loses on any other result. Winning bet pays 4 for 1 (3-to-1) on craps (2, 3 or 12) or 8 for 1 (7-to-1) on Yo (11).

Specific Horn Bets
Bets that the next roll of the dice will be a 2, 3, 11 or 12 as indicated by the bet location showing that number total from two dice. Specific Horn bets are resolved on the next roll of the dice according to the following table:

4-Way Horn Bet
Placing chips in the box marked Horn Bet covers all four individual Horn bets with a single wager (must be a multiple of 4). If either a 2 or 12 hits on the next roll, the wager will be paid 31 for 4 (27-to-4), or if either a 3 or 11 comes up on the next roll, it pays 16 for 4 (12-to-4). This is an easy way of covering all four horn bets with a single click, and is equivalent to placing 1/4th of the wager in each of the four individual Horn Bet locations.

Supplemental Bets

Supplemental bets (known as Odds bets) are back-up bets on existing Line bets (i.e. Pass, Don't Pass, Come or Don't Come). They are conditional in that the Point (or Come Point) must be established (e.g. you can't place a Pass Odds or Don't Pass Odds bet during Come Out) and you must already have a pending Line bet in order to take up the Odds for that Line. The maximum Odds bet is 3x the existing Line bet. As a backup bet, an Odds bet wins only if its corresponding Line bet wins and it loses when its Line bet loses. There is no house edge with Odds bets, so they pay true odds, as indicated below.

Unlike the original Pass and Come bets, all unresolved Odds bets can be removed or modified between rolls. Pass Odds and Don't Pass Odds bets are always resolved at the end of a round, but Come Odds and Don't Come Odds are only resolved when the Come Point or a 7 is rolled, so they may persist through the end of a round. Thus they are active during a Come Out roll.

Pass Odds
A Pass Odds bet can be placed by clicking in the light shaded area on the extreme right of the Pass Line. If you want to take Pass Odds, you have to wait until the Point is established to place the bet. When no Pass Line bet is pending, clicking in this area will be inactive and will generate an error tone. Winning bet pays 2-to-1 if the Point is 4 or 10, pays 3-to-2 if the Point is 5 or 9 and pays 6-to-5 for Points of 6 or 8.

Don't Pass Odds
A Don't Pass Odds bet can be placed by clicking in the light shaded area on the extreme left of the horizontal Don't Pass Bar. If you want to take Don't Pass Odds, you have to wait until the Point is established to place the bet. When no Don't Pass bet is pending, clicking in this area will be inactive and will generate an error tone. Winning bet pays 1-to-2 when the Point is 4 or 10, 2:3 for Points of 5 or 9, and 5-to-6 on Points of 6 or 8. Remember that Don't Pass bets (both Line and Odds), win on a 7 and lose on the Point.

Come Odds
A Come Odds bet can be placed by clicking in the light shaded area above the Come bet in the numbered Come Point box. If you want to take Come Odds, you have to wait until the Come Point is established to place the bet. When no Come bet is pending, clicking in this area will be inactive and will generate an error tone. Winning bet pays 2-to-1 if the Come Point is 4 or 10, pays 3-to-2 if the Come Point is 5 or 9 and pays 6-to-5 for Come Points of 6 or 8.

Don't Come Odds
A Don't Come Odds bet can be placed by clicking in the light shaded portion of the top box above the Come Point number. If you want to take Don't Come Odds, you have to wait until the Come Point is established to place the bet. When no Don't Come bet is pending, clicking in this area will be inactive and will generate an error tone. Winning bet pays 1-to-2 when the Come Point is 4 or 10, 2-to-3 for Come Points of 5 or 9, and 5-to-6 on Come Points of 6 or 8. Remember that Don't Come bets (both Line and Odds), win on a 7 and lose on the Come Point.

Please note the difference between the payouts on Pass/Come Odds and Don't Pass/Don't Come Odds. When the Point is 5, a winning $12 Pass Odds bet will pay 3-to-2, and the player will get back $30 ($18 win + $12 bet). However, a winning $12 Don't Pass bet pays 2-to-3 when the Point is 5, so the payout is only $20 ($8 win + $12 bet).

How to Play

To start, click on a chip denomination in the control panel and then click on bet spots in the table layout to place bets. Each left-click on a bet spot places a chip and each right-click removes a chip. If you place more than the maximum bet on any given spot, your bet will automatically be reduced to the maximum allowed. The total amount of all the bets you have on the table will be shown in the Total Bet counter.

As you mouse-over each bet spot on the table layout, text will appear at the bottom of the control panel to tell you the bet name, payout odds, amount already placed and maximum bet for that spot. For example: "$5 Big 6 bet pays 1-to-1 ($100 Max)".

You can choose to throw the dice yourself, or pass the dice to "another" player who will throw them on each roll. Set the Throw/Pass button on the control panel accordingly.

When you have all your bets placed, you are ready to roll the dice. Click Roll on the control panel. If you've "passed" the dice, they will appear coming from the right of the screen as if thrown by another player. When the dice settle out, their final values will appear on the Results Board in the upper left corner, winning bets will be paid, resolved bets will be removed and the total amount paid out to you will be shown in the Message Window in the upper right.

If you elected to throw the dice, a shooter view of the table will appear when you click Roll. On initial Come Out rolls you will select two of five dice for your round of throws. Click on the two dice you want use. To throw the dice, use your mouse to position the arm, left-click and hold to cock the arm and then release the left mouse button to toss the dice down the table. The shooter window will disappear once the dice have settled out at the far end.

Source: Casino Glamour

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