Craps

Craps is the most popular casino dice game. It is purely a game of chance, in which people wager money on the outcome of one or several rolls of two dice. When it’s played in a casino, the house covers against the dice, but this game is also quite popular in much more informal settings.

When played among friends (it is said to be extremely popular in the military) one or several people need to take on the role of the casino, and bet against the outcome of the dice.

Several people usually play at craps tables, but it is possible for only one person to play too. One player called the “shooter” will roll the dice. Players will take turns rolling the dice, so everyone gets to roll for one round. The very first roll of each round is called the “come out” roll, and it is subject to the following rules:

If the “come out” roll totals 7,11,12, 2 or 3 the round ends immediately, and the shooter will have to roll another “come out”

2, 3, and 12 are called “craps” and 7 and 11 are called “naturals”.

If another number turns up (remember you have to add up what the two dice show) that number will become the “point”. The round will go on with the shooter rolling over and over, until he hits a “point” or a seven. If he hits a “point”, the round will start over, with the same person being the shooter, if he hits a seven, the round will still start over, but the dice will pass on to the next shooter.

Given the nature of a round, players can bet on a large variety of things: will the round end in a “point” or in a seven out”? How many total points will be rolled through the round? Etc.

Every single craps table in a casino is attended by no less than 4 employees. There’s the stickman, the person who pushes/pulls the players’ chips to and fro, according to what they wager on, the boxman, who minds the chips, watches out that he dealers make no mistakes, and the dealers, who pay out and collect bets from players.

In a casino, there’s a very strict etiquette in place regarding craps. Rules like: players are not supposed to handle the dice with more than one hand, they have to hit the opposite wall of the table when throwing, and the dice may never leave the space immediately above the craps-table, are routinely enforced.