BEGINNER'S CRAPS

Craps is a dice game. The craps table is often viewed as confusing but it is much simpler than most people think. To start the shooter places a bet on the pass line and roll the dice (this is called the "come-out" roll") to establish a point. The object of the game is to roll your point number before you roll a seven.

Number	Number of ways to make it
2	1
3	2
4	3
5	4
6	5
7	6
8	5
9	4
10	3
11	2
12	1

Pass Line
All pass line best are paid off 2 to 1 and when rolling a come-out roll of 7 or 11 the player will win (this is the only time a player can win on the pass line while rolling a 7). If a 2, 3, or 12 is rolled the player looses. If the player rolls a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 it becomes the point. The pass line favors the house by 1.414 %.

Don't Pass Line
All don't pass line bets are paid off 2 to 1 and when rolling a come-out roll of 7 or 11 the player looses. If a 2 or 3 is rolled the player wins. If a 12 is rolled it becomes a push. If the player rolls a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 it becomes the point. The don't pass line favors the house by 1.403 %.

Odds Bets
Once the point is made the player can place an odds bet on the pass line or don't pass line bets. The house will pay true odds on this bet. The pass line odds bet is placed behind the original bet. The don't pass line odds bet is placed on top of the original bet but a little off set. You may remove the odds bets on pass and don't pass bets at any time.

The following chart displays the true odds and house odds of the bet:

POINT NUMBER	TRUE ODDS	HOUSE ODDS
4 5 6 8 9 10	2-1 3-2 6-5 6-5 3-2 2-1	9-5 7-5 7-6 7-6 7-5 9-5

The Player can also place odds bets on the come and don't come bets, but during the come out roll all odds for the come bet are not working, but the odds for don't come are always working.

Come and Don't Come Bets
These bets are very similar to the pass and don't pass bets, but they are made at a different time, they are made after a come out roll and a point is made.

Come Bets
To play a come bet you must place your bet on the box labeled come. If player roll a 7 or 11 player wins If player roll a 12, 3, or 2 player looses If the next number rolled is none of the above it is placed on the number you have rolled. If the player rolls that number again before rolling a 7, the player wins. If a 7 is rolled before the number the player looses.

Don't Come Bets
To play a don't come bet you must place your bet on the box labeled don't come. If player rolls a 7 or 11 player looses If player rolls a 12, 3, or 2 player wins If player rolls a 12 it's a push If the next number rolled is none of the above it is placed above the number you have rolled. If a 7 is rolled before the number you win If the number is rolled before the 7 you lose.

Place Bets
The place bets are pretty easy bets to make, you place your bet on the numbers 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10. You can place this bet any time and can remove it anytime. You win if the if the player rolls that number before a 7.The place bets are paid off at house odds.

Buy Bets
For a 5% commission the house will give you true odds but the bet must be in multiples of $20. This allows you to buy the 4 or 10.

Lay Bets
You place a bet on the one of the numbers 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10,. This is a bet made against the number and you win if the player rolls a 7 before the selected number comes up. There is a 5% commission and the house pays true odds.

Field Bets
The field bet is situated between the don't pass line and the come bar. The and this bet means that if the next roll is a 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12 you win and you lose on any other numbers. The 2 and 12 pay off 2-1, and the rest pay even money.

Big Six / Big Eight
Place the bet on the box with the big 8 or big 8 and you win even money if that number gets rolled before a 7.

Proposition Bets
The following bets are not wise bets to make because of the likeliness of actually winning, but if you do win with one of these bets the payouts are great.

Seven
A 4-1 bet that wins if the next roll is a 7.

Hard Way Bets
The boxes that you can bet on have the value of 4, 6, 8, or 10 and have to be pairs ie. 2/2, 3/3, 4/4, or 5/5. When the bet is place this has to be achieved on the next roll. If they are not exact, the player looses. These bets have great payoffs but terrible odds.

Horn Bets
Many casinos offer the horn bet, once placing a horn bet on the next roll the player wins on a 2, 3, 11, or 12 otherwise the player looses. The payoffs depend on the number that wins.

Any Craps
Once placing a any craps bet on the next roll the player wins on 2, 3, or 12, and this bet pays off 7-1.

The Remaining Bets
There are boxes that have dice totaling the number 2, 3, 11, and 12. You place your bet on one of these boxes and on the next roll if you get the number selected you win and if not you loses. This bet has a great payout but very low odds.

Summary
The game of craps is probably the casino game where one would have the most chance of winning. So as you can see craps is not as complicated as most would think. And I hope this guide has helped clear up any confusion with the game of craps. Click here for the Craps Glossary of Terms.

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