This game is inspired by the British dice game known as Hazard, which became popular over 2000 years ago. Hazard was brought by the French when they settled in Nova Scotia, Canada. These French citizens resettled in New Orleans in the mid-1700s, and Hazard increased in popularity due to the numerous gaming centers in the area. It was later called Crapaud, a French word for toad. This refers to the players’ position when playing the game. Many players crouched over the dice on the sidewalk or floor. Crapaud was later shortened to craps by the English speakers. This marked the transformation of the game into what is played around the world today.
To have a complete understanding of how crap works, you must know the different terminologies used when playing the game and the table layout.
Crap Terminologies
Here are the terminologies you’ll come across when playing the game.
- Come-out roll: The betting round begins with the come-out roll.
- Shooter: The player rolling the dice.
- Natural: This means that the outcome of your throw is 7 or 11.
- Craps: Also called Snake Eyes. This means you threw a 12, 3, or 2. Here, you lose, but the round isn’t over; you can throw again.
- Point: You threw a 10, 9, 8, 6, 5, or 4. When playing at a live casino, the dealer marks your rolled number (the point) on the table. When playing online, a tiny button appears when a point is displayed.
Once a point is established, you need to throw the dice again, hoping to get the same number. The dice combination does not need to be the same as before; so far as it is the same addition, you win.
The point sequence misses the number 7 because it is not a lucky number. In this circumstance, if you throw a 7, you ‘seven out’, meaning you lose, and this ends the betting round.
Craps Table Layout
Apart from knowing the terminologies associated with the gameplay of craps, you need to get a good grasp of the table layout of the game. The standard table has two similar patterned sides, one on the right and the other on the left. The gameplay of the two sides is also the same. The table is designed with two similar sides to accommodate more players to participate in a single craps game on one table. This way, the table can be managed by two dealers when the table becomes busy.
- The Pass Line and Don’t Pass Bar
The pass line bet can be placed on the table. If a player predicts that the shooter will roll a combined 11 or 7, the dealer will place such players wager in the pass line box. But if the player predicts that the shooter will throw a 12, 3, or 2, the bets are ‘don’t pass bets. The dealer places these bets in the ‘don’t pass bar’ felt.
These are the most popular wagers a player can place on the table. Players place bets on this part of the table if they predict that the shooter will roll an 8 or 6 before rolling a 7.
On this part of the table, you can wager on the shooter rolling an 11, 10, 9, 4, or 3 on a single dice roll. This bet type is known as The Field. You can possibly triple or double your money on this section of the table if you bet on the dice rolling a 12 or 2.
These sections operate in the same way as the pass line bets. But the bets can only be placed after the pass line bet. Thus, if you predict that the shooter will roll an 11 or 7 on the following roll, you can add to your chips on the Come box. But, if you think he will roll a 3 or 2 on the next roll, you will add to your wager on the Don’t Come box.
This section is placed close to the boxman on the table. It is one of the most popular and fast-paced wagers in the game. You can wager ‘Place to Win’ on the shooter throwing a 10, 9, 8, 6, 5, or 4 before rolling a 7. The wagers are put in The Place, and the bets can be placed at any time during the game. If you predict that the shooter will roll a 7 before any of the numbers above, then you are placing a ‘Place to Lose’ bet. This bet is also placed on The Place section on the table.
This is the middle of the table, and it is shared by every player on the table. In this section, players can place their props (proposition) bets. They are single-roll wagers placed on the odds of the dice landing in a particular pattern.
There are usually about a dozen to twenty players at a table. This means that each dealer is managing between six to twenty players at a time. However, four persons manage a craps table: the dealers (usually 2), the boxman, and the stickman. The stickman calls the dice and controls them with a stick. The dealers handle the payouts and bets. The boxman handles the house’s money and oversees the entire betting.
The best strategy for learning craps is to play the game. After reading our ultimate winners guide, you should be prepared to move from asking questions about how to play craps to playing the game for real. You can decide to play the game for free until you are sure that you have fully understood the rules of the game and its gameplay before risking your funds on real money games.