Do you know how to play craps? If not, we have prepared a comprehensive guide. Like all our previous betting guides, this one will teach you how to play craps beginners’ strategies. Craps is a casino game that requires a strategy and a lot of action. It uses dice and money in the form of chips.
While a beginner might find this game challenging, once you learn how to pay it, it’ll be easier and more fun. After reading our ‘how to play craps for beginners’ guide, you’ll be in a position to play craps with much more confidence. But first we need to start with some basic terms.
How Craps Work
Before learning about a craps strategy, you first need to understand how it works, especially where you’re located and the table personnel.
The personnel includes dealers, a stick person, and a box person.
- The Stickman: He passes the dice to the shooter using a long hook, and also announces the results of every roll.
- The Boxman: The person in charge of exchanging cash from players and chips. A boxman also acts as the supervisor, ensuring that no bets get missed.
- Base Dealers: Every craps table comes with two base dealers who collect bets, place bets for players, and pay out winnings.
- Shooters: Players act as shooters for each round. Shooters’ turns go clockwise around the craps table, and a player’s turn ends when they roll a 7. Rolling a point means you remain as the next craps game’s shooter.
Craps Rules
Once you roll and the number is displayed on your screen, you can expect three possible outcomes namely:
- Natural: A natural means that you got a 7 or 11 after rolling. If this happens, you win the round and you can roll again.
- Point: A point happens when a shooter rolls a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10. If you’re playing live craps, the dealer marks your point on the table. However, in online craps, a small button appears once you establish a Point. The white button says “On”. Once this happens, you should roll the dice again hoping to get the same number. The outcome doesn’t have to contain the same combination of your previous dice result. Provided the number is the same, you win. Rolling a 7 in a Point sequence means you lose.
- Craps: This is when you roll a 3, 12, or 2, which is also known as Snake Eyes due to the cunning resemblance. It means you lose but you get to roll again in this round.
Types of Craps Bets
Numerous craps bets exist. Here are some of the most popular ones.
Pass Line
This is the most popular with a 1.14% house edge, and it’s the easiest. It means that players bet on the shooter landing on 11 or 7 before a 3, 2, or 12 on the first roll. If the dice lands on 11 or 7, the bet wins but if it lands on 3, 2, or 12, it loses. Rolling a different number means the bet remains active.
Don’t Pass Line
It’s the opposite of the Pass Line bet, which sees players winning on a 3 or 2 roll, and losing if they land on 7 or 11. If the roll results in 12, the bet becomes a push, and no other number should reappear before 7 for one to win. While the low casino edge that comes with this bet is alluring, the bet is unpopular since you’re betting on other players losing.
Place Bets
Such bets are played once a point number has been determined. A player bets on a number that must get rolled before a 7 is thrown. The bets come with three distinct house edges and payouts for every dice number bet on.
How to Win at Craps: Tips and Strategies
If you are looking for how to play and win craps strategies, we have done the heavy lifting for you. We have researched the best tips and strategies for you just like we did with the 3 card poker strategy guide. These tips work for every player regardless of whether you are a novice or an experienced craps player. Here they are.
Avoid Single Roll Bets
While this is a hard bet to avoid due to the instant gratification that comes from a single roll, it’s a bad bet. While the house edge on single-roll bets are based on payouts, they are normally over 10%. Instead, play more conservative bets that come with better odds.
Don’t Shy Away from the Don’t Pass Bet
In land-based casinos, players shy away from the Don’t Pass bet, when at a hot, packed table. That is because players hate losing money, especially when someone bets on their loss. The social pressure ends up stopping many players from playing this bet which is actually great since it only comes with a 1.36% house edge.
Play Max Odds for Don’t Pass and Pass Bets
This bet is among the few where the more a player bets, the lower the house edge. The odds bet acts as a side bet that backs up either your Don’t Pass or Pass bet. Although the casino still has a tiny edge on the side bet when you combine it with your original wager, on its own, the odds bet doesn’t have a casino edge.
A Pass Line single odds bet lowers the casino edge from 1.4% to 0.85%. doubling your odds bet further lowers the house edge to 0.61%, and it continues to drop as a player multiplies their odds bet behind their original bet.
Always Play at Reputable Casinos
While playing craps is exciting, and the thought of using a strategy and winning is thrilling, you need to do it right. That means playing at sites like BC.Game that are licensed and regulated.
We have also done a Bitcasino review, which outlines why you should play your favorite game, in this case, craps on the site. Always keep this in mind when researching how to play craps strategies. Once you learn how to play craps from our guide, sign-up at a reputable casino and start playing.
The Bottom Line
Are you feeling lucky? How about trying a round of craps? If you understand the rules, have a great strategy, and have some luck, you can reap great benefits from playing craps. If you are a beginner, the more you practice, the more skilled you get. Whether you win or not, remember to have fun and play responsibly.
