Online Craps

What Is Craps and How Do You Play?

When it comes to popular casino games, you'll usually find craps at the top of the list. Dating back to the Middle Ages, the game features players betting on the roll of dice. There's a good chance you've seen a crowd gathered around a table in the casino, usually cheering or booing. Whether it's a movie or in a live casino, it's a familiar image. You might even feel the urge to join in on the fun and start playing online craps.

Players new to the craps game may feel overwhelmed at first. While it does seem complicated, it usually only takes a few minutes to get the hang of it. Most gamblers are used to playing at the craps table in a physical casino. However, playing craps online is just as popular now.

What Do Craps Tables Look Like?

If you've ever visited a physical casino, there's a good chance you're familiar with the many craps tables. The table is designed specifically for gamblers and players. There are also two areas for rolling the dice.

Usually, there's what is known as a shooter, or player who rolls the dice. Sometimes a new shooter gets a chance after a new round, though this isn't always the case. Bets are taken before each round. To place a bet, you simply place your chip at the appropriate spot on the table.

At a physical casino, there are a few employees that help facilitate the craps table. These are the boxman, stickman and base dealers. The boxman helps with player's chips at the table, ensuring the game runs smoothly. The stickman handles the dice. To do so, they use a stick to move the dice on the table. Finally, there are the base dealers who help collect losing bets and pay out winners. There are usually two base dealers at a table.

Now that you're familiar with what craps tables look like, it's time to go over how to play the game.

How Do You Play Craps?

The basic goal for a player at craps is to predict and bet on the outcome of the dice. The game is broken into two parts: the come out roll and the point.

The game begins with the come out roll. This is when a new shooter gets a chance to roll the dice. There are two options for betters. These are the pass line and don't pass.

The most common bet is the pass line bet. To place a pass line bet, simply place your chips on the pass line on the table. Once bets have been collected, the shooter rolls the dice. Rolls of 7 or 11 are automatic wins. A 2, 3 or 12 is an automatic loss. If the remaining numbers available are rolled, the game moves on to the point.

Once the point begins, your pass line best stays the same. Shooters will keep rolling the dice until they either roll the come out roll or a 7. You'll want the shooter to roll the point before the 7 comes up. Shooters will continue to roll the dice until a 7 or point comes up. Once that occurs, the round is over. If a shooter rolls the point before a 7, pass line bets are paid out. If they roll a 7 first, the pass line bet loses.

Types of Craps Games

Most gamblers are familiar with what is known as Bank Craps or Las Vegas Craps. The game made a name for itself in Nevada casinos, though its popularity has spread due to gamblers playing craps online. A popular software provider is Evolution, that produces high quality live craps games. In Bank Craps, gamblers always bet against the house.

While Bank Craps is the most popular form, there are a few different variations. One popular type is Crapless Craps, in which you never lose a line bet if a shooter rolls a 2,3 or 12. With better odds for the player, the game is most popular in Mississippi.

Another type of craps game is New York Craps, which is played mainly on the east coast of the U.S. and in parts of the U.K. The variation features a different table layout and does not allow players to make what are known as Come or Don't Come bets. Players must place a bet on box numbers such as 4,5,6,8,9 or 1. The odds of winning are slightly worse than the traditional Bank Craps.

Five top casinos to play Craps online

Playing Craps Online

With the advent of the internet, many gamblers have taken to playing craps online. Playing craps online is similar to playing in a physical casino, though the mechanics are a little different. When you play online, there is no designated shooter or employee to assist with the game. As virtually the only player, you'll end up the shooter for every round. The dice are automatically rolled, with bets placed by clicking on the desired amount.

You may wonder if shooting craps online is legal. The good news is that there is a multitude of legitimate online casinos where you can play craps online. Playing in one of these virtual casinos is as simple as creating an account and depositing funds into your player account.

Craps Strategy an payouts

Now that you're familiar with craps, it's always a good strategy to understand how craps payouts work. A key strategy to placing a bet is to lower the house edge. The house edge, or casino advantage, is the difference between actual odds being paid out to the player and the real odds that a casino pays to the winner. It may sound confusing, but it is essentially the probability of the house winning the bet.

In craps, the house edge can get as high as 16.9%, which can be quite a loss over the course of the game. A good strategy for beginning players is to simply make a pass line bet which has a lower house edge. More advanced players have more betting strategies available to them which can get a little more complicated.

Taking the odds

The best craps bet is called taking the odds. When taking the odds, you're gambling on whether or not the point will be rolled before a 7. Payouts for this bet are dependent on the point but range anywhere from 2:1 to 6:5.

There are also four more bets that you can make: come, don't come, place and field. When you place a pass the line or come bet, the payout odds are 1:1. The same is true for a don't pass or don't come bet.

A place bet is a prediction that either a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 will come up before a 7 is rolled. The payout odds for these rolls are dependent on the number that comes up but range anywhere from 9:5 to 7:5 and 7:6.

Finally, a field bet is a guess that the next roll will be a 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 or 12. Payouts for a field bet are either 1:1 or 2:1.

While strategies can get quite sophisticated, it's always good to remember that at the end of the day craps is a game of luck. Starting out, you'll want to keep bets simple until you get a better hang of the game.

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