The Basics of Playing Craps

Like Sic Bo, Craps has been around for years. If you already know the rules of Sic Bo, then playing this game should be an easy lesson. This guide is set to help both beginners and experienced players to venture into the world of one of the most popular games in the casino.

What is Craps?

At its core, craps is simply a dice game where players bet on the outcome of the roll of two dice — with the various betting options being listed on a craps table. And because craps doesn’t require much in terms of equipment, players can play in either informal settings (known as “street craps”) or in the typical casino environment — whether it be in an online or physical casino setting. For this article, we’ll focus on the casino version of the game. Briefly, your typical craps table may look overly complicated with many subtle rules, bets, and terminologies to keep in mind. This could also be one of the reasons why craps is not one of the top, top favourites in most casinos. Make no mistake about it, the craps gameplay experience is a lot simpler than it looks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DxNxU6XjyU
First and foremost, you’ll need to know about the basic terms and relevant betting options in craps.

Come-out roll: The first roll of the dice, whether it’s the first one of the game or the first one after the previous round has concluded.
Shooter: The player who throws the dice.

A typical game of craps has a flow that looks like this:

Players take turns rolling a pair of dice. The shooter takes two dice and tosses them on the craps table. For those who are playing online, tap on the “roll” button.
Once you’ve made your roll, a few possible outcomes can happen in one round of craps:
- Natural: When the roll is a 7 or an 11, you win and get to roll the dice once more.
- Craps: Rolling Snake Eyes (2), 3, or a 12 means that you’ve lost but the round is not over. You still get to roll the dice again.
- Point: Scoring 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 will mark the rolled number on the table. The shooter will then need to roll the dice once more and hope that the same sum will appear once more. However, if the player initially rolls a 7, they will get a seven out and lose the round. This will end the betting round.

Craps Betting Options

Let’s look at the craps table once more. You’ll notice that there are both numbers and dice combinations, as well as a few areas with specific betting rules.

Pass Or Don’t Pass Bets

This betting rule is easy. You can either bet on the “Pass Line” or the ”Don’t Pass Line”. Don’t worry, we’ll get on to what each of them means shortly.

Pass Line: You predict that the shooter will pass (win) by rolling a natural or by scoring a point before getting the seven out.
Don’t Pass Line: The opposite of the pass line bet — you’re predicting that the shooter will not pass (lose) by getting a 2 or 3, or when they fail to roll another point before rolling a 7.

The 12-roll Outcome

If the shooter rolls it, your bet becomes a push — meaning you don’t win nor lose and nothing happens.
Keep in mind that you can only make these bets before a point has been rolled. Once a point has rolled, the shooter will reroll and then you can make another bet.

Come Or Don’t Come Bets The come or don’t come bet is based on the outcome after any point has been established. The come bet will win when a natural roll is completed. If another point is rolled, it becomes the come-bet point.The come-bet point works like how the pass line bet works: if a come-bet point rolls out again before 7, you will win. The don’t come bet pays out when the shooter rolls a 2 or 3. If the shooter rolls a 12 at this stage, the game will trigger another push. Neither pass nor come bets can be skipped once it has been initiated. You must place your bets and wait until the end of the round. You can make additional bets at any point during the stage of a come-bet point.

Proposition Bets

In addition to the above, you can also make single-roll bets in craps. A single-roll bet is settled through a single dice roll by the shooter. You will find these betting options at most craps tables.

Any Seven: You win if the shooter rolls a 7.
Any Craps: You win if the shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12.
Ace Deuce: You win if the shooter rolls a 3.
Aces: You win if the shooter rolls a 2.
Boxcars: You win if the shooter rolls a 12.
Horn: You win if the shooter rolls a 2, 3, 11, or 12.

Keen-eyed players will also notice that the center of the craps table features four specific outcomes of 4, 6, 8, and 10. This is called a hard way and can only be achieved when the shooter rolls the same pair of numbers corresponding to one of the numbers as mentioned. Other possible bets in craps include:

Place Bets: Once the point has been revealed, you can further place bets on any number on the table. You win if your predicted number appears before the 7.
Field Bets: This bet is only available for a single dice roll. The winning condition is to make sure a 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12 is rolled.
Big 6/Big 8 bets: This bet is on a possible outcome where a 6 or 8 will be rolled before the 7 comes up.

These bets have a payout of 1:1 and they are a great additional side bet to your original wager. All caught up on the rules and basics of craps? If you’d like to test out your new skills and start playing in craps, we recommend that you head to Play88 today to sign up for a new account. You will be thrilled to find out that you can claim Play88’s new member’s Welcome Bonus as high as MYR 2,000 to start your games!