How To Play Craps - Online Craps Tutorial

If you haven't played craps before, this is the perfect place to start!


The Scene

This game may let you feel intimidated because the table looks complicated and around it are a lot of people very noisy. This is just how craps looks at first sight. When you will get the hang of it you will see that is not so difficult, all you need to do is to pay attention and concentrate on your game.

A good way to learn craps is via casual observation, you simply walk around the casino from table to table and watch how other experienced players develop their game.

This way you can learn about how the game should be played, especially seeing how to place your bets and ask dealers for bets, but it's an absolutely awful way to develop your strategy. So, if u spend a few days in a casino milling around the tables you should not think that that's it, I've got the game, you only have some introductory ideas about it.


To start playing, you just need to walk up to the craps table where is not too crowded, kindly squeeze in and polite ask if you can join in. You should not change your place at the table with other players during the game, because the dealers place your bets in a way that corresponds to your table position.


The Table

The craps table is the biggest table in the casino. As i said before even it is so big always the casino it will be a crowded and noisy atmosphere. Depending on the size of the table, there may play between 12 and 16 people at once. Craps is a game of many dealers and at the table work four employees at all times. Also craps is a game of many bets, as you can observe by simply watching on the felt table, where are a lot of bets and miniature bets with a lot of squares and circles and numbers

The Box man

You'll see him sitting down in the middle of the table with a lot of chips in front of him, which represent the table bankroll. The box man is the manager of the table and he is the one who makes all the final calls, inspect dice, and resolve any disputes that might appear between the players, or between players and dealers.


The Stick man

Opposite from were the box man stays is the Stick man with players around him. He is the one who handles the dice with a long stick (from were comes his name) curved at one. He also controls the speed of the game, maintains dice security, calls out the rolls, and deals with center bets.


The Dealers

On each side of the box man you can see the two dealers, at each end of the table. They manage the players bets and the payoffs on their half of the table.


To help you out, take a look at the graphic below.

The Cycle of Play

A game of craps is always in one of two states: the 'on' state, meaning 'the point' has been set, or the 'off's state where the point still needs to be rolled. You can tell which state the game is in by looking along the row of numbered squares (where you place your place bets) and checking for a white circle of plastic with the word ON written on it sitting on any of the numbered boxes.

If you can see the white, plastic 'puck', you know the point is set and a session is in progress. The other side of the white puck is black and sometimes has the word OFF written on it. If you see a black puck sitting idle just off of the playing board, you know the point hasn't been set yet and a new game is about to begin.


Learning to play craps is really about learning what the process of the game is.


The shooter, meaning the person who's throwing the dice, after he places his bet, can throw the dice for several times, until his session ends and that happens when the player 'sevens out'. Then the stick man will pass the dice to the next player and a new session begins.


To help you understand better the cycle of play, let's assume you are the next player to roll the dice. Your first roll is called the 'come out roll'. In case you will roll a 7, an 11, a 2, a 3, or a 12 on the come out roll, the point does not get set. If you are playing pass line bets and in the come out roll you get a 7 or an 11, you win; and you lose if you roll a 2,3 or 12.

These numbers are also known as craps numbers. But still there are possible numbers that you may roll and these numbers are 4,5,6,8,9 and 10. If one of these numbers are rolled, it means you have set your point. The session has now begun and a white puck is placed on the number that has just been rolled to avoid any confusion as to what the point is. Your goal now is to keep rolling the dice until you make that number again, but if you will roll a 7 before one of that number, you lose and the session ends.

So, it's very simple, if you roll again that point before you roll a 7 you win and you continue playing and try to determine in the come out roll another box point. If you sevened out, it means you hit a 7 before you rolled the point and the dice goes to another player.

The above flow chart is to help you understand better what a session means in craps. You should also know what the pass line bet is. So, here it is:


Your First Bet

The most common used bet by the players is the pass line bet. To place your pass line bet, stack your chips neatly right in front of you inside the band of felt with 'PASS LINE' written on it. For this bet if in the come out roll you roll a 7 or an 11 you win, but you lose if you roll a 2,3, or a 12.

If you roll any of the box points ( 4,5,6,8,9, or 10 ), that number becomes your point and you pass line bet doesn't win or lose, until you seven out or you decide to take it down. If you want to take your pass line bet down make sure the stick man hasn't given the shooter the dice yet, or it may be too late to take down your bet.


To try out the pass line bet, log into our free craps game.


To learn about the other bets you can make in craps, or a bit about the odds, read the craps bets page, where you will get the essential knowledge on the game of craps.