Yes, I'm Protesting Math

With my latest trip to the Casino I taught a few people how to play craps. They were able to pick it up in one session and get comfortable in 2 or 3 sessions. Thinking back to my first time at the craps table it can be an incredibly intimidating place. The dealers can be extremely sarcastic, there are words you’ve never heard before, and it’s a very fast paced game. Hopefully this quick guide will help anyone looking to jump into the game.

I like the game since it’s faced paced and nowadays at most casinos you can play only giving the casino about a .4% edge. Also, it’s a fun game interacting with the other players and the dealers and I’ll stand by this; there’s nothing better in a casino than a hot craps table.

I’m going to teach a very basic style learned from this book. For anyone looking to learn I would buy the book as he breaks it down over chapters while I’ll be doing it in a couple paragraphs. If there’s enough interest maybe this could also be a Sunday video with me playing an explaining my thought process behind each bet.

Above is the image of a craps layout, I’m going to be referencing frequently throughout the post. I’m going to show a very simplistic way. There are a little more high variance/-EV ways to play that I’ll mix in every once in a while but generally I just stick with this one way. Also, keep in mind craps is always going to be a -EV game and there’s no winning system no matter what people tell you. I always play the table minimum and play for fun.

For beginners, I’m going to teach you the “right” way to play which means you’re betting with the dice. ~ 90% of the players bet with the dice, you can also bet against the shooter but this would make the blog entry much longer. The first roll is when this button (as shown below) is off. It is known as the come out roll. For the sake of this entry we’ll pretend we’re playing at a $5 table.

When the button is off and you have your chips you want to place a $5 chip on the pass line (pays 1:1). On the come out roll, we win on a 7 or 11 and we lose on a 2, 3, or 12. If we win they’ll pay the pass line and if we lose they’ll take our money and we put $5 back down. If the shooter rolls a 4,5,6,8,9, or 10 then the button is flipped over to on and moved behind that number. This is where the game gets much more complicated.

Now first of all for the sake of the blog we’ll pretend we’re playing with 3x,4x,5x odds as that’s the most common form today. Most practice website has double odds and I’ll explain what all this means in a second. Basically the odds bet is the only true bet in the casino, the house has no edge on these. For a 4 or 10 you’re paid 2:1 on your odds bet, for a 5 or 9 you’re paid 3:2, for a 6 or 8 you’re paid 6:5.

The odds bet is placed behind the pass line. So at a $5 table you’re able to place $15 (3x) on a 4 or 10, $20 on a 5 or 9 (4x), and $25 on a 6 or 8 (5x). Whatever the button is on, this is called the point. We need that number to come in before a 7. So for example if a 5 is rolled on a come out roll we place $20 behind the line and need a 5 to be rolled before a 7. If a 5 is rolled before a 7 we win our pass line bet (1:1 on our $5) and our odds bet (3:2 on our $20).

This is called making our point. If this happens the button goes back to off and we start the whole process over again. If a 7 comes when the point is established we lose and the button goes back to being off and we start the whole process over again. The main difference here is the dice changes hand. It’s moved clockwise around the table and only changes hand after someone sevens out.

Ok, so far we’ve established what happens on the come out roll and how a point is established and how we win/lose after that point is made. Now lets say the come out roll was a 5, there’s nothing wrong with betting the pass line with odds and nothing else. However having one number can get a little boring. Fortunately there’s a way to make more bets with odds. These are made through the come box.

In order to make a come bet, a point has to be established. The first roll after a point is made, I make a come bet. To do so, you just place a $5 bet in the come box. The come bet is the exact same as a pass line bet in that on the initial roll you win on a 7 or 11 and lose on a 2, 3, or 12. If the roll is a 4 through 10 sans 7 that point is established. Lets say it’s a 6, the dealer takes our $5 and puts it inside the 6 at the top of the felt. I would then place $25 on the table and ask for odds. The dealer will then take that $25 on the $5 chip and we’ll be good to go. Now we win with a 5 or 6 and lose on a 7.

I always make 2 come bets so I have 3 numbers working at all times. So I then place $5 in the come box and lets say a 9 is rolled. I’ll toss the dealer $20 and then I’ll have the 5,6,9 and just hope for one of those numbers to hit before a 7. If a 7 hits we lose all 3 bets. If a 5 hits we win our initial bet, the button is then turned off and the point needs to be re-established. Something to know is when the button is off, the come bet is always “active” which means you win your 1:1 on your $5 if your number hits and lose it if a 7 comes. However, your odds bets are always off so if a 7 comes you lose the $5 on the 6 and 9, get your odds back, and win your pass line bet.

I’ll now take you through a sequence of rolls and hopefully it becomes a bit clearer.

2: lose our pass line bet
4: place $15 behind the pass line, make a $5 come bet
7: lose our pass line bet ($5) and odds bet ($15), win our come bet ($5)

Total for the roll. -5 -5 -15 + 5= -$20

Now the dice are passed, we place $5 on the pass line

5: place $20 behind the pass line and make a $5 come bet
9: give $20 to the dealer asking for odds, make a $5 come bet
8: give $25 to the dealer, now we have our 3 numbers
2: nothing happens
11: nothing happens
8: win our come bet bet ($5 @ 1:1), win our odds bet ($30, $25 @ 6:5), make another $5 come bet
6: give dealer $25
5: win our pass line bet ($5 @ 1:1), win our odds bet ($30, $20 @ 3:2)

Now we place $5 on the pass line and start over again. Remember our odds bets are off on our 8 and 9.

8: place $25 behind the pass line.
9: win our pass line bet ($5 @ 1:1), win our odds bet ($30, $20 @ 3:2), make another $5 come bet
7: lose our $5 pass line bet on the 8 with our 25 odds, lose our $5 come bet on the 5 with our $20 odds, win our come bet.

Total for the roll= 30 + 10 + 30 +10 + 30 +10 +10 -5 -25 -5 -20= +75 for the roll

And that process goes on and on. The easiest way to learn is to play and there are a ton of free craps games out there my personal favorite is here. There’s a ton more to talk about but it’ll get a bit more complicated and a lot longer. I tend to incrementally increase my bet after I hit a point and/or a come bet and will also make so place bets every once in a while which are a completely different animal. Also, there’s tipping, etiquette, etc that you can learn from either playing or reading online.

However those are the basics and with those you can definitely hold your own at the table. If you have any questions, let me know and I’ll be happy to answer any questions.

Problems are the price you pay for progress. ~Branch Rickey