Enter a casino and you can immediately pick out the section with the craps table. People are yelling, high fives are being exchanged, and excitement is in the air.
Craps is an exciting, fast paced game in which it is possible to make, or lose, tremendous amounts of money in a short period of time. Rather than being a one on one competition between you and the dealer, or you against the house as in roulette, there is a feeling of you and the rest of the table, generally, against the casino.
While the game is fast and appears extremely complicated to the novice, the basic and bets are actually very simple. Incredibly enough, the bets that offer the best odds to the player are also extremely simple to learn.
For purposes of this article, ignore all parts of the craps table except for the following sections:
1) the part of the table closest to you that is marked “Pass Line”; and
2) the section of the table that is unmarked and is immediately behind the pass line, closest to you.
When you first walk up to the table, look at the small card denoting the table limits. This is usually located on the inside, back wall of the table on each end. The card will usually contain a small number and a large number, for example $5 minimum - $5000 maximum. For our purposes, this signifies that the smallest bet which may be made is $5 and the largest is $5000. There will also be a line denoting the maximum odds which may be bet (we’ll explain these later). This is usually expressed as 2X Odds or 100X Odds, depending on where you play. Generally, you would prefer to play at a casino which will allow the highest odds possible. These are odds which can be bet, but do not have to be.
The initial bet we will discuss is also the most common on the table and is called the “Pass Line” bet, because it is made by taking chips and placing them in the section marked “Pass Line” immediately in front of you. The bet must be an amount between the minimum and maximum bet signified on the card discussed earlier.
By placing your chips on the pass line, you are betting that the “shooter”, the person rolling the dice, is going to repeat the first number he rolls before he rolls a seven. However, other things can happen on the initial (or “come out”) roll.
If, on the come out roll, the shooter rolls a two, three, or twelve, the pass line betters lose their bet (called crapping out). If, however, he rolls either a seven or an eleven, the pass line betters win. The amount won or lost will be exactly equal to the amount bet. For example, a $25 bet will always win or lose exactly $25. The pass line bet is the simplest one on the board and can be bet alone or with other bets. If you are just getting started, it is worthwhile to make this bet a few times just to get into the rhythm of the game.
The initial roll “sets the point”. If it is not a 2, 3, 7, 11, or 12, then the bet is that the shooter will make that number before a seven is rolled. For purposes of the pass line bet, after the initial roll the only numbers that count are the “point” and a seven. This sounds more confusing than it is and can best be explained by an example.
Assume you place a $5 chip on the pass line prior to the initial roll. The shooter then rolls the dice and one die shows a 4 and the other a 2. Adding these together means the point is 6. The $5 bet you made will be paid $5 if a six is rolled before a 7. If a 7 is rolled first, the casino wins and takes the $5 chip.
The next bet we will discuss is called the “odds” bet, “betting odds”, or “taking odds”.
The odds bet is made after the first (or “come out”) roll is made and the point is set. It is placed immediately behind the pass line bet, on the section of the table that is not marked. It is called a “behind the line” bet because you literally place that bet on the felt behind the pass line.
Betting the odds is essential to a successful winning craps strategy. It is the only bet in the entire casino in which the “House”, or casino, pays the true odds. For instance, the odds that a six or an eight will be rolled before a seven are 6-5. That is exactly what the “odds bet” pays. For every five dollars bet, it will pay you six dollars. You should always bet as much on the odds are you are 1) allowed to bet and 2) comfortable betting. It is also important to bet the correct amount of odds for the correct pay off. The true odds on a 4 or a 10 are 2-1, the odds on a 5 or 9 are 3-2, and the odds on a 6 or 8 are 6-5. Again, it sounds confusing, but all it really means is if you are betting odds on a 4 or 10, you may bet any amount you like and will be paid correctly, if you are betting odds on a 5 or 9 the bet should be made in multiples of $2, and on a 6 or 8, the odds should be bet in multiples of $5.
Next in this series will be a discussion of a bet known as the “Come” bet.
