Games - Craps

	Games - Craps

Craps (previously known as crabs) is a casino dice game, which is especially popular in the USA. Craps is a simplification of the Old English game hazard. Players wager money against the casino on the outcome of one roll, or of a series of rolls of two dice.

Craps can also be played in less formal settings and is said to be popular among soldiers. In such situations side bets are less frequent, with one or several participants covering or "fading" bets against the dice.

The basic game

The players take turns rolling the dice, and they all bet on the same roll, regardless of who is rolling. The player rolling the dice is called the shooter. The first roll of a new round is called the "come-out roll." All bets are based on the total of both dice together, never on just one die.

Craps features a plethora of bets, but the most fundamental is the "pass line" wager, which nearly all players make. On a come-out roll, the pass line bettors win when either a 7 or 11 is rolled. A 2, 3, or 12 loses, and is called "craps". When any other number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10) is rolled it's called the point. Once a point has been set, the pass-line bettor wins if the point is rolled again, and loses if a 7 is rolled first ("seven-out"). After a seven-out the dice pass to the next shooter for a new come-out roll.

The opposite of a pass line bet is the "don't pass" bet, which wins on a come-out roll of 2 or 3, loses on 7 or 11, ties on 12, and goes to the point round when any other number is rolled. In the point round the don't pass bet wins if a 7 is rolled and loses if the point is rolled. People who bet on the don't pass are called wrong bettors, while those who bet on the pass are called right bettors, only because most craps players make the pass line bet instead of the don't pass bet.

A casino craps table is run by four casino employees: a boxman who guards the chips, supervises the dealers and handles coloring out players; two base dealers who stand to either side of the boxman and collect and pay bets; and a stickman who stands directly across the table from the boxman and announces the results of each roll and then collects the dice with an elongated wooden stick. He is also in charge of managing the bets made on the center of the table (hardways, yo, horn, etc). For clarity, the number 11 is referred to as "yo" so as not to be confused with the number 7.

A new shooter, who must bet the table minimum on either the pass line or the don't pass line to play, is presented five dice by the stickman and picks two.

The dealers will usually insist that the shooter roll with one hand and that the dice bounce off the wall surrounding the table. These requirements are meant to retard cheating attempts by players switching the dice or making a "controlled shot." If a die leaves the table, the shooter will usually be asked to select another die from the remaining three but can request using the same die if it passes the boxman's inspection. This requirement is used in an effort to reduce cheating the game by players substituting loaded dice for the regulation dice.

Types of craps bets

The fundamental bet in craps is the pass line bet, in which one bets that the dice will pass (that is, roll the point number before rolling a 7). The following discussion assumes that the shooter, as is usually the case, is betting on the pass line.

If a point is made, most casinos allow pass line bettors to take odds by placing from one to five times (and at some casinos, up to 100 times) the pass line bet behind the line. This additional bet pays at the true odds, 2-to-1 if 4 or 10 is the point, 3-to-2 if 5 or 9 is the point, and 6-to-5 if 6 or 8 is the point. While the house has a small (1.4%) advantage on pass line bets, the house has no advantage at all on odds bets. Therefore, taking the maximum odds (which vary by casino) can lower the house percentage for any given bet down to as low as 0.5%.

Odds bets in craps are one of the few bets offered at a casino that are completely free of any house advantage. Another such bet is the "double-up" option offered to the player in some forms of video poker after winning a hand.

Let's see why that is. There are 36 possible permutations (ways to roll a pair of 6-sided dice):

1-1 = 1 way to make a 2 1-2 2-1 = 2 ways to make a 3 1-3 2-2 3-1 = 3 ways to make a 4, true odds pays 2-1 1-4 2-3 3-2 4-1 = 4 ways to make a 5, true odds pays 3-2 1-5 2-4 3-3 4-2 5-1 = 5 ways to make a 6, true odds pays 6-5 1-6 2-5 3-4 4-3 5-2 6-1 = 6 ways to make a 7 2-6 3-5 4-4 5-3 6-2 = 5 ways to make an 8, true odds pays 6-5 3-6 4-5 5-4 6-3 = 4 ways to make a 9, true odds pays 3-2 4-6 5-5 6-4 = 3 ways to make a 10, true odds pays 2-1 5-6 6-5 = 2 ways to make an 11 6-6 = 1 way to make a 12

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Craps ]

Games - Craps

The basic game

Types of craps bets

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