Hi, and welcome to the Guru’s page on craps rules. As one of the followers of the Guru, you are welcome to call me George, and I encourage you to visit other pages on my site. When you follow the path of George the Guru, you can’t go wrong, and are well on your way to becoming a craps expert like me.
On this page I’m going to spell out the different craps rules concerning the types of bets you can make when playing craps at a casino or online. Don’t forget that I have a free online craps game for you to make use of in your pursuit of craps gambling expertise. So stick around, get comfortable, and put your best listening-ears on, because the rules surrounding betting can get a bit complicated. The Guru will do his best to make this a smooth ride though, so you can relax.
First things first: When you learn about craps, the first things you need to know about are the “Pass Line” and “Don’t Pass” bets. When you get up close to the table, you’ll see the long curving section along the edge of the table closest to where the players stand. This is the Pass Line, and just inside that is the Don’t Pass area.
The Pass Line bet is the most basic bet you can make. When you place a Pass Line bet, you're betting with the dice. This can also be called “betting right”. So you're betting that the either a 7 or an 11 will be the first number rolled. Remember when I told you about the “come out” roll? Well this is it. If the shooter rolls either, you win! As far as craps rules go, if a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 is rolled, this sets the "point." Once the point is set, you want to see that number rolled again. If the shooter rolls the point before he rolls a 7, you win, but if the shooter rolls a 7 before the point is hit, that’s a bad thing. The shooter has "sevened out", and you lose too. One more thing about this first bet: if the shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12 (called Craps), you lose.
Now I’ll tell you about is the "Don't Pass" Bet. This is basically the opposite of the Pass Bet. In terms of craps rules, when you place a Don’t Pass bet, you’re now betting against the dice. Don't Pass bets are called "betting wrong." Don’t worry; this doesn’t mean that there are any bets that are better than any other bets; it’s just some of the jargon used around the craps table. So instead of hoping for a 7 or 11 on the come out roll, you're hoping the shooter will crap out so you will win. If the shooter sets the point on the come out roll, you’re now hoping that they’ll hit a 7 before hitting the point. That would mean you win too. Are you still with me? I know craps rules can be complicated at first, but you’ll get the hang of this, or I’m not George the Craps-Guru!
OK! Now the pace of my teachings will pick up a bit. The rest of the bets are fairly straightforward, and I’ve already covered a lot of ground already, so there are fewer details to wade through. Ready? Here we go!
Now for the “Come” and “Don’t Come” bets. You place these bets on their own sections of the table, and they are almost the same as Pass Line bets, except you place them after the come out roll, not before. You can see in the pictures below where they live on the table; more towards the middle.
The idea here is exactly the same as the Pass and Don’t Pass, except that you don’t have to wait for a come out roll to place them. This means that a new arrival at the table can get right in on the action; no waiting around. These bets and the Pass Line bets are considered by experts to be the safest bets at the table, and you don’t really need to know a whole lot about craps rules to be able to get right into the swing of it.
The next bets to know about are the “Place Bets”. You can see where to make these bets in the shot below.
Right after the come out roll, if the shooter didn’t hit a 7 or 11 or crap out, the point has been set, and you can bet on whether or not the shooter will hit it. At this point, you can place a bet on the 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10. When you make a Place bet, you want the number you bet on to be rolled before a 7 is rolled. So you can bet on the point number or any of the others. One of the dealers will put this bet on the table for you, so don’t go slapping your chips down on a Place bet, or you’ll tend to offend. Remember what I told you about some superstitions being just like craps rules? Well, this isn’t one of them, it really is a rule. Another thing about Place bets is that you can remove or reduce them at any time; you can not do this with Come bets. Once those are on the table, they’re there to stay!
Now I’ll give you the scoop on “Field Bets”. In the photo below, you’ll see that there’s an area on the table sandwiched between the Come and Don’t Pass lines; this is called the Field.
Inside this area, you’ll see the numbers 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, and 12. You may think that putting a bet here is similar to a Place bet, but trust me, it isn’t. Here, you place your own chips down, and you don’t place them on a certain number, you’re just betting that the very next roll (and only the next roll) will come up as one of the numbers here. In craps rules, these are called “one-roll bets”. No second chance here! So, with a Field bet, if a 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12 is rolled on the very next roll after you place your bet, WOO-HOO! You win! If a 5, 6, 7, or 8 is rolled, you lose. I know what you’re thinking. You think this is an easy win because you can win on so many more numbers than you can lose on. But here’s the deal: the numbers that make you lose (5, 6, 7, and 8) have more combinations of two dice that make up those numbers than the others. You’ll also notice that the 2 and 12 are circled. This is because if one of those comes up, you’re usually paid 2 to 1 odds for a 2, or 3 to 1 odds for a 12. This is because there is only one dice combination that can make each of these numbers.
Ok students, there are only two more types of bets to let you in on, then you’ll know all about craps rules and have learned the way of the Guru. These are called Proposition Bets and the Big 6 and Big 8 Bets. Below, you can see where these bets get placed on the table.
As far as the Proposition Bets go, there are two types; Hardways and One Roll bets. First of all, the One Roll bets are just like they sound; you bet on one roll of the dice, and only one roll. You can place your bet at any time during the action (or rather, the dealer or stickperson places your bet for you), and if your number comes up, you’re a winner. There are several types of bets in this category, so here’s the quick and dirty list:
Any 7: Here you are betting that 7 will be rolled on the next roll. It can be in any combination too.
Any Craps: With this bet, you’re betting the shooter will crap out on the next roll. Not a very nice thought if you’re the shooter!
2, 3, 11, or 12: This one’s just like it sounds; you bet that one of these comes up on the next roll.
Horn Bets: Now with this one, you bet on 2, 3, 11, and 12 all at once. You need to put down four chips (one for each number), and win if any of them comes up.
The Hardways bets aren’t one-roll bets. Here, you are betting that a 4, 6, 8 or 10 will come up as a pair before it comes up in another combination. You may have heard someone at a craps table yell “Hard 8!!” (two 4’s). This is what they’re talking about. Notice that there isn’t a 2 in there? That’s because there is only one way to make a 2; the others have at least two other combinations that can make them.
Now for the last section; the Proposition Bets called Big 6 and Big 8. These aren’t one-roll bets. You can place these bets at any time, and you’re betting that a 6 or an 8 will come up before a 7 is rolled. These bets are shied away from for the most part, because the house has such a big edge. You can bet on both if you like, but if you’re really set on betting on one of these, place it on the 6, since the house edge is less than for the 8.
And there you have it (whew!); a big lesson on craps rules from the Guru himself. I’m doing my best to teach you “the way”, and if you’ve paid close attention to my teachings, you will have no problems when it comes to playing craps at a casino or online. Whichever you choose, you know you’ve learned from the best there is: George the Craps-Guru!
