Get Dicey: Play Craps and Have Fun

​Acknowledgements

Thank you to David G. Schwartz, Ph.D., Coordinator of the Gaming Studies Research Center Lied Library at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for his pleasantness and recommendations for sources of information.

Thank you to Robert C. Hannum, Ph.D. from the Department of Statistics and Operations Technology at the University of Denver for kindly providing me with a copy of Practical Casino Math, which assisted me greatly in describing the mathematics of casino games.

Thank you to all of the casinos that employed me.

About the Author

​Working six days a week as a craps dealer in Las Vegas, Nevada gave Tracy Michigan thousands of hours of experience with the game. Trained to know every option available on the casino craps table, Tracy interacted with countless players—yes, even Elvis—and learned creative and popular betting strategies during her career.

In Get Dicey: Play Craps and Have Fun, Tracy shares her knowledge with readers that will allow them to play the game with savvy and have a good time doing it. Tracy knows what people are wondering when they approach the game for the first time. She knows what mistakes they might make, explains baffling rules, and advises players on how to communicate with casino staff.

With humor and common sense, Tracy dispels the mysteries of casino craps, which, once understood, is actually quite elementary and very entertaining.

Introduction

​The dice tables intrigue the casino visitor. Attended by rows of gently chirping video poker and slot machines, the dice game lounges like a sleeping dragon on its hoard of treasure. The colorful bank beckons with the promise of fast money.

But if you have ever strayed close enough to peep at the felt, the boxes of numbers and meaningless labels offered no hints about how to play. Stern commands such as Come and Don’t Pass looked more like an outline of dog obedience training than a fun activity.

Confronted by this puzzle, you consider more user-friendly games, but when you hear the collective roar from a craps game full of winners, your curiosity spikes. You want to be one of the happy people at the table. And, if the dice are hot, they are happy people.

Fortunately, the basic concepts of play are easy to learn, and if the gaming gods are willing, you will be collecting on odds bets and pressing place bets in a frenzy of action.

Get Dicey: Play Craps and Have Fun will teach you everything you need to know about playing the game along with the nuances of betting, game etiquette, and the numbers that explain the good and bad bets.

Just remember: there are six ways to make a seven.

This is a good thing.

This is a bad thing.

Table I.i The Craps Table

Players gather around the Pass Lines at the edges of the table. Base dealers stand at the rear of the game behind the boxed numbers, and a stick dealer stands at the front of the game in front of the proposition box. Players have direct access to the Pass Line, Don’t Pass, Field, Big 6, Big 8, Come, and Don’t Come. Other betting areas require interaction with the dealer in order to place bets.

Primary Bets

Pass Line

Don’t Pass

Field

Come

Don’t Come

Place Bets (4, 5, six, 8, nine, 10)

Proposition Box (Includes hardways, horn bets, any craps, any seven, eleven, two, three, twelve, and any one-roll bet designated by the player.)

Chapter One To Pass or Don’t Pass

​The great difficulty in learning any casino game during live action is that you will not always know why you were paid. Or, more commonly, why the dealer just snatched your money like a factory worker plucking defective product from the conveyor belt. Craps to the untutored player will be no exception. A little familiarization with the basic rules of craps will serve you well before throwing your money down that first time.

The Bare Bone Basics

The craps game will have five dice on the table, and the shooter will select two for play. By using two six-sided dice for play, all rolls will equal a number between two and twelve. The remaining three dice will be set aside in a bowl in front of the person working the stick. If one or both of the live dice land in the bowl during a roll, the dealer with the stick, who makes most game calls, will announce, No roll, in the bowl, or any variation on that statement. When dice fly off the table, land in the table racks, or on top of the bank, the roll will be declared null as well. All other rolls of the two dice on the game surface will be valid.

When you first arrive at a table, the game will be at one of only two stages of play. The game will either be coming out or have a point number. The circular pucks on each end of the table indicate the stage of the game. When the black side of the puck is up, it will generally read OFF, which means that the table is coming out. If the white side of the puck is up, it will generally read ON, which means that the table has a point number.

The most commonly known aspects of craps take place when the game is coming out. Any roll that occurs when a game is coming out will be called a come out roll. Most bets on the table will be inactive at this time, and players will be betting on the pass line or don’t pass line. A bet on the pass line will win on any roll of seven or eleven. The pass line bet will lose on any roll of two, three, or twelve. These are the craps rolls.

Table 1.1 Come Out Roll Rules for Line Bets

Pass Line Coming Out

Wins on seven and eleven

Loses on two, three, or twelve

Don’t Pass Coming Out

Wins on two or three

Pushes on twelve

Loses on seven and eleven

The don’t pass, as the name implies, is the opposite of the pass line, but not the exact opposite. A don’t pass bet will win on any roll of two or three, but it will only push, which means neither win nor lose, on a roll of twelve. This is indicated by the statement Bar Twelve that is printed, usually as a pictograph, on the don’t pass. When a seven or eleven rolls, the don’t pass bets lose.

What happens when a four, five, six, eight, nine, or ten rolls? These rolls create point numbers. When one of these numbers rolls during the come out phase, it will become the game’s point number. The dealer will then place the puck, white side up, on the specific number. A table remains on the come out roll until a point is established. Seven, eleven, and craps rolls in sequence will create a come out roll of multiple rolls. After a point number is marked, the craps rolls and eleven cease to affect the line bets.

At what stage you enter the game is up to you and does not truly matter. Most people wait to begin on a come out roll just to start fresh, and they have the advantage of winning on a seven on the pass line. The opportunity to win on a seven is your best bet. This is because the most common roll of the dice is seven. Because the possible dice combinations must consider the roll of each die, the dice have six ways to make a seven. One and six, six and one, two and five, five and two, three and four, four and three are the six combinations. Unlike many other bets in craps, the pass line bet on a come out roll only wins even money because the odds are so good.

When a point number is marked, however, a pass line bettor will no longer win on a seven. The object now is for the shooter to again roll the number that is marked before the seven rolls. It is important to note that you may