Editorial

Monday, 16 February 2009 01:54

If you’re a newcomer to craps, you might be bewildered by all the noise and excitement that emanates from a lively table and curious to know what it’s all about. If you fancy your chances as a craps hotshot but have no idea where to begin, this beginner’s guide will steer you around all the obstacles and point you in the right direction in order to realise your potential to rapidly improve to become proficient as a craps player.

The first thing you should know is that craps is purely a game of chance. As such, there are no verifiable strategies that will make you win time and time again. The game’s outcome is decided by the roll of the dice so there is really very little you can do to change this. However, that is not the end of the matter as you can improve your chances of avoiding costly mistakes that amateur players make repeatedly by learning some fairly simple rules of the game and by avoiding rash betting strategies that can land the immature player in hot water.

The basic goal of the craps player is to place bets in order to win and this is achieved by predicting the most likely outcome of the roll of the dice. We’ll explain how the betting is worked out in a moment.

First, it helps to know that there are four people that run the craps table. These are the boxman or referee, the two dealers who collect the chips from losing bets and pay winners and the stickman who collects the dice. Players around the table first place their bets in the various marked areas on the table then the stickman selects one player to roll the dice.

If the first roll of the dice, known as the “roll out” produces a seven or eleven, this means that all players who have placed their chips on the “pass line” betting area of the table instantly win at odds of one to one. If the roll out instead produces a two, three or twelve, players who bet on the pass line lose and their chips are taken by the dealers. This is known as craps, or crapping out.

If the roll out produces any other number, this establishes the box point. The shooter continues to roll the dice until either the box point is rolled again, in which case all players who bet on the pass line will win or a seven is rolled and those players lose.

If you remember just these rules pertaining to pass line bets, you will be able to play craps and have as much chance as anyone else of winning. Pass line bets produce the best winning odds with the lowest house edge in craps, which is why they are the most popular bet. There are, however, several alternative betting areas on the table which can be made use of to further spice up the game and make it more interesting.

To improve your winning chances, you can back up your pass line bets with free odds bets, which carry true odds, meaning no house edge. Similarly you can play come bets also backed with free odds bets. Of the remaining betting alternatives with the best odds, the place bets on sixes or eights come in pretty close.

There are ways of hedging your bets, although this strategy while beneficial when making complex wagers, does limit your potential winnings by significantly decreasing the game’s volatility. Craps is also one of those casino games that can run in streaks more often than most. In this case, when winning you ought to increase your bets, although you should never do this in an attempt to recover losses.

You should also be aware of the other bets available to you. These carry better winning odds, but are more difficult to achieve and carry a higher house edge making them poor strategic bets.

Place bets can be made on 4,5,6,8,9 or 10 and if the number is rolled before a seven, you win. The odds vary depending upon the number rolled. Six or eight carries the lowest house edge of all place bets at 1,52% rising to 6.67% for four or ten.

Buy bets are the same as place bets except you pay a 5% commission to get better odds.

Hard ways are bets on pairs being rolled before a seven. These carry better winning odds but a similarly increased house edge makes these poor bets.

Field bets are one time bets on the next roll producing one of 2,3,4,9,10,11 or 12 and pay one to one apart from 2 and 12 which pay two to one.

Proposition bets are made on individual numbers being thrown on the next roll and carry the worst house edge. They are often referred to as sucker bets and should be avoided. 

All in all, the safest strategy is to stay with pass or come bets and take advantage of winning streaks where possible and you’ll be every bit as proficient as the very best of the craps hotshots.