Craps: Lesson One

The game of craps is played with a set of two dice that are each six-sided. The dice are thrown by participants in the game in a clockwise rotation that gives all participants an equal chance at throwing the dice. The dice must be thrown from one side of the table to the other and almost all casinos will want the dice to hit the opposite back wall to insure no loaded dice or cheating. The results of each throw determine the payoffs on the table which will be examined later.

The most direct way to explain the game of craps is to talk about the flow of the game which revolves around "making the point".

The idea behind craps is to roll a "point" (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) on the come-out (first) roll and then after that point is established, the dice thrower (shooter) wants to roll that same point number before he/she rolls a 7.

If a 7 is thrown, then the point is lost and the process starts over. If the point is thrown, then the process also starts over again. (Payouts are made at that point also).

It's that simple and the game can be played by making only those bets that play "with the dice". Of course, there are many other bets to make in craps and craps rules involved with those bets which make the game so much fun...for the Casinos.