Term | Meaning |
Ace-Deuce | A roll of 1 & 2 (=3) |
Big Bets | Betting either a 6 or 8 will be rolled before the shooter rolls a 7 |
Boxcards | A roll of 6 & 6 (=12) |
Boxman | Croupier, who handles chips and supervises the game |
Buy Bets | Betting a certain number will be rolled before the shooter rolls a 7, subject to 5% commission |
Come Bets | Bets made in the point phase that a 7 or 11 will be rolled. If another value is rolled, the bettor then wins if that value is rolled again before a 7 is rolled |
Come-Out Phase | Primary phase in craps. If the shooter rolls a 7 or 11, the Pass line wins and the No Pass line loses. The inverse occurs if the shooters rolls a 2, 3, or 12 |
Craps | An instant-fail roll in the come-out phase, either 2, 3, or 12. |
Dice | Pair of 6-sided dice used to randomly determine winning or losing outcomes |
Don’t Come Bets | Bets made in the point phase that a 2, 3, or 12 will be rolled. If another value is rolled, the bettor then wins if a 7 rolled before that value is rolled again |
Easy Four | A roll of 1 & 3 (=4) |
Easy Six | A roll of 1 & 5 or of 2 & 4 (=6) |
Easy Eight | A roll of 2 & 6 or of 3 & 5 (=8) |
Easy Ten | A roll of 4 & 6 (=10) |
Hard Four | A roll of 2 & 2 (=4) |
Hard Six | A roll of 3 & 3 (=6) |
Hard Eight | A roll of 4 & 4 (=8) |
Hard Ten | A roll of 5 & 5 (=10) |
Lay Bets | Betting the shooter rolls a 7 before a certain number will be rolled, subject to 5% commission |
Natural | Any roll equal to 7 |
No Pass | Bets indicating an unsuccessful roll. In the come-out phase, these are rolls of 2, 3, or 12. In the point phase, this is a roll of 7. |
Pass | Bets indicating a successful roll. In the come-out phase, these are rolls of 7 or 11. In the point phase, this is a roll of the point value. |
Place Bets | Standard bets indicating which number is expected to be rolled and win |
Point Phase | Secondary phase in craps. If the shooter first rolls a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, that number becomes the point. The shooter must roll the same value before they roll a 7 in order to win. |
Shooter | The player throwing the dice. The shooter keeps rolling until a win or loss comes up, then passes the dice to the next player |
Snake Eyes | A roll of 1 & 1 (=2) |
Stickman | Croupier, who collects bets using a stick and who announces rolls |
Table | Combined betting and dice rolling surface. Marked with spaces for placing chips to indicate different bets |
Rules
Play begins with betting. Players around the craps table lay chips on different spaces indicating any number of bets. Traditionally, throughout the round, players can raise or lower any established bets as they see fit.
The first roll in craps is in the “come-out phase.” A shooter either bets on Pass or No Pass, and rolls the dice. Pass bets win on 7 or 11, and lose on 2, 3, or 12. No Pass bets win on 2 or 3, lose on 7 or 11, and split their bet with the bank on a 12.
If the result in the come-out phase is 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, that value becomes the point and play proceeds to the “point phase.” Pass bets now win if the shooter rolls the point value a second time before rolling a 7, and No Pass bets win if a 7 is rolled first. The shooter rerolls as many times as necessary for either the point or a 7 to be rolled.
Bets are then paid out proportionate to their odds. In live craps, the dice are passed to the player on the left, who then becomes the shooter.
Types of Bets
Bet Name | # of Rolls | Winnings Rolls | Tie Rolls | Losing Rolls | Odds |
Pass | Multiple |
Come-out: 7, 11
Point: Point value
| — |
Come-out: 2, 3, 12
Point: 7
| 1:1 |
No Pass | Multiple |
Come-out: 2, 3
Point: 7
| Come-out: 12 |
Come-out: 7, 11
Point: Point value
| 1:1 |
Come | Multiple | 7, 11 | — | 2, 3, 12 | 1:1 |
Don’t Come | Multiple | 2, 3 | 12 | 7, 11 | 1:1 |
3 | Single | 3 | — | Any other number | 15:1 |
11 | Single | 11 | — | Any other number | 15:1 |
2 | Single | 2 | — | Any other number | 30:1 |
12 | Single | 12 | — | Any other number | 30:1 |
Hi-Lo | Single | 2 or 12 | — | Any other number | 15:1 |
Craps | Single | 2, 3 or 12 | — | Any other number | 7:1 |
Any 7 | Single | 7 | — | Any other number | 4:1 |
Field | Single | 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12 | — | Any other number |
1:1 on 3, 4, 9, 10, 11
2:1 on 2, 12
|
Big 6 | Multi | 6 | — | 7 | 1:1 |
Big 8 | Multi | 8 | — | 7 | 1:1 |
Hard 4 | Multi | 2 & 2 (=4) | — | 7, any other 4 | 7:1 |
Hard 10 | Multi | 5 & 5 (=10) | — | 7, any other 10 | 7:1 |
Hard 6 | Multi | 3 & 3 (=6) | — | 7, any other 6 | 9:1 |
Hard 8 | Multi | 4 & 4 (=8) | — | 7, any other 8 | 9:1 |
Place 4 | Multi | 4 | — | 7 | 9:5 |
Place 10 | Multi | 10 | — | 7 | 9:5 |
Place 5 | Multi | 5 | — | 7 | 7:5 |
Place 9 | Multi | 9 | — | 7 | 7:5 |
Place 6 | Multi | 6 | — | 7 | 7:6 |
Place 8 | Multi | 8 | — | 7 | 7:6 |
Buy 4 | Multi | 4 | — | 7 | 2:1 – 5% |
Buy 10 | Multi | 10 | — | 7 | 2:1 – 5% |
Buy 5 | Multi | 5 | — | 7 | 3:2 – 5% |
Buy 9 | Multi | 9 | — | 7 | 3:2 – 5% |
Buy 6 | Multi | 6 | — | 7 | 6:5 – 5% |
Buy 8 | Multi | 8 | — | 7 | 6:5 – 5% |
Lay 4 | Multi | 7 | — | 4 | 1:2 – 5% |
Lay 10 | Multi | 7 | — | 10 | 1:2 – 5% |
Lay 5 | Multi | 7 | — | 5 | 2:3 – 5% |
Lay 9 | Multi | 7 | — | 9 | 2:3 – 5% |
Lay 6 | Multi | 7 | — | 6 | 5:6 – 5% |
Lay 8 | Multi | 7 | — | 8 | 5:6 – 5% |
Craps Table
The craps table serves two purposes: placing bets and rolling dice. The various spaces on the craps table let you place different bets by placing your chips on those spaces. Bets are simply laid down or adjusted mid-game as long as you speak up and let the croupiers know what bet you’re making. When playing craps online, this step is handled by the UI to streamline betting.
Rolling dice is simplified in online craps. Land-based casinos have several rituals and rules about rolling dice—you may have heard your dice need to hit the back edge of the table to ensure fairness. Online dice rollers use Random Number Generators (RNGs) to fairly simulate the roll of the dice.
How to Understand the Payouts
When you win, casinos pay back your initial wager plus your winnings, which equal your wager multiplied by the odds. So if you bet $1.00 on a 30:1 bet on 12, and 12 is rolled, you’ll receive your $1.00 back plus $30.00.
One key concept in craps payouts is house edge. This is the slight advantage the house has on any bet, where the house will collect a profit over the course of several bets. In craps, the house edge can be as low as 1% or as high as 16%, but the actual chance of rolling certain outcomes is a different percentage.
For example, the true odds on Pass bets is 251:244, while the house pays out 1:1 odds. This means the craps casinos will slowly scoop up more and more of your money as you keep playing, even if you stick to bets with even odds.