Craps. Shooting dice. Street craps. Whichever name you know the game by, odds are you have probably heard about the profit you can make by playing craps. As one of the most popular games at a casino, craps offers the lowest house edge than other dice games. These games are now being featured across online casinos because of their incredible popularity.
The game's simplicity with just the right amount of logic makes the experience very entertaining for the craps player. In addition, the cheering of the winning crowds at a craps table is an excellent opportunity to celebrate with friends or soon to be acquaintances.
However, with the wrong bets, things can go downhill very quickly. To keep winning when shooting craps, you need a working strategy and lots of luck. Like many casino games that involve logic, craps players have the advantage of winning bets with a working strategy.
Our guide is modelled to provide a fundamental overview on how to play craps and win every time using dice controlling strategies.
The Basics of Shooting Dice
Knowing your craps basics is the fundamental and most crucial portion you need to master. A quick search on how to play craps for beginners is an excellent place to start before you practise the actual game.
Then, use online craps practice tables to learn the layout of the tables and apply the following bets to understand the basics. While learning the game, it helps to know the common jargon used at Craps tables for that additional fun factor.
- Come out roll - The initial roll or the first roll in Craps starts with the Come Out roll.
- Shooter - The term given to the person who rolls the dice.
- Natural Roll - When the rolled dice results in a 7 or 11.
- Craps Roll - A Craps roll is when you roll a 2, 3, or 12. Even though you lose the round, you also get another turn to roll.
- Point - When you roll a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, your point(rolled number) is marked on the table, and you roll again. If you land on the same point value again, you win.
- Seven out - You lose when you roll a seven on the second roll after point numbers.
Craps Bets Explained
Various bets and side bets are placed at both land-based and online craps casinos. Depending on the bet and the point number, the players lose or win. Some bets have lower house edge ratios and are favoured in a game. Taking odds into concern, knowing the bets and understanding the value of the numbers that the shooter throws will benefit your play.
Pass Line/Come Bet - One of the basic bets you can apply is the pass line bet. The house edge for a pass line bet is only 1.43%, with a winning ratio of 1:1. The player can place a pass line bet on the initial bet roll. A Come Bet is the same as a Pass Line bet. The winning pass line bet/come bet is awarded when the dice lands on 7 or 11.
Don't Come/Don't Pass - If you prefer to play live craps online, then the Don't Come/Don't Pass bet is recommended. When placing this bet, the shooter rolls, you would place Don't Pass bets against the odds. Therefore, you would lose if the shooter rolls a 7 or 11 and win if the shooter rolls a 2 or 3. However, if the shooter's dice rolls a 12, the bet becomes a Push, and all the Craps players get their bets back. The Don't Come/Don't Pass bets offer a house edge of 1.46%.
Free Odds - Free odds are placed alongside other Pass /Don't Pass and Come Don't/Come bets. When placed as a combination, Free odds reduce the house advantage. However, when placed by itself, the house edge is zero as the casino pays the true odds on this bet.
Odds Bets - An Odds bet is placed against a point number after a Don't Pass bet. Basically, you place a bet on seven before the point bets. There is no house edge on Odd bets.
Lay Bets - A Lay odds bet is a negative bet and is placed on a number that will not be thrown before 7.
Place Bets - A Place Bet is placed on a number before the comeout roll or first roll for a win, else you lose. The house edge pays 1:1.
Field Bets - A Field bet has a house edge of 5.56%. Players can place a bet on a single roll of the dice. Single, double and triple wins are awarded to the winning field bets with the maximum odds for landing on 12.
Proposition Bets - Like Field bets, a proposition bet is a one roll bet. The house edge is very high on prop bets. Experts nicknamed them ''sucker bets'' because players can lose the lion's share on just these crap outs.
Becoming A Master at Dice Control
Before you get down to rolling dice, you must understand your responsibilities as a shooter and your role in the game. Everyone around the craps table has a chance of being the shooter with a fair chance to roll the dice.
As a shooter, you get to keep rolling the dice till you land 7 or 11 on the come-out rolls or land your point number total instead of a 7 or 11. Every time a shooter loses his turn, the dice pass clockwise to the next new shooter.
Once you have chosen the minimum bet at a table, the game begins. The shooter's bet pass is placed first before other players, and the dice roll begins. All bets stay on the table till the shooter sevens out, in which case the winning casino chips are handed out, and the original bet remains.
Dice controlling is a craps strategy that forms the basis of playing the game. Carefully maintaining the position and handling of the dice is up to the shooter. Roll outcomes can be influenced by dice control after carefully examining the build of the craps table.
Every table is built to ensure that random numbers land on the dice. Casinos make pyramid-shaped ends to let the dice bounce and fall on a random number that even the best dice controllers find difficult to grasp. However, there are common popular tips that can point the roll of the dice in your favour.
Top Dice Control Tips
- The first and most important rule when throwing the dice is that the dice should hit the back wall when you physically play Craps at any Las Vegas casino. The shooter makes sure that the die does not touch the table en route to the back wall to avoid being called a ''no-roll''. These are things that you need to consider mainly in a land-based casino. However, you can avoid all these basic errors by playing online.
- At a physical casino, you can position yourself at four places for the best shoot without scattering the dice out of control. They are Stick One, Stick Two, Stick Left One and Stick Stick Right Two. These are the closest points to the back wall from where you can get the best control when you shoot dice.
- Setting the dice to land the same way is a strategy that comes with practice. The strategy is based on the fact that you stand a chance of landing on the same number if you shoot the dice consistently and position the dice correctly in your hand each time. A''hardway'' set and the''3-V'' set are the most popular types of dice settings you can try on your practice next roll.
- The Hardway Set - Prevents seven from appearing. Position the dice so that the left dice shows six on the left side and the dice on the right shows one on the right side.
- 3-Vm Set - This dice control involves placing 3 in a "V'' formation where six is on top, 6 in front, eight at the back and below.
- Pick up the dice in the same manner, every time. Hold it by the sides and always pick them up from the top. Use the same rules as arranging your dice to position them in your hand carefully. The two dice can split when you are arranging them. In such instances, gently reposition it using your outer fingers.
- Always use the same amount of pressure when handling the dice. Every time you roll the dice, ensure that the same force is applied for accurate throws. Use the three-fingered grip to hold the dice firmly from the two sides and the thumb to keep them flush in the middle.
- Lastly, make sure you use a pendulum swing when releasing the dice from your hands. Do not throw the dice, instead, release it like you would in 10 pin bowling.