Of all the games available at the casino few are as glamorous as craps – at least that’s certainly how movies and TV make it look. It is also, however, by a huge distance, the least accessible casino game of them all. Not just because it’s generally played by the highest rollers but because it is extremely complicated.
Not the actual rolling the dice part, of course, but knowing what on earth all those markings are on the board, what the numbers on the dice represent, how you bet, and how exactly you win after those dice have landed.
The best way to understand the game is to understand exactly the kinds of bets you can make, what dice rolls are required, and the payout rates. The following table should give some idea of how the game works. Write up a cheat sheet when you go to the casino or simply ask the croupier to help refresh your memory, but these are the essentials that any craps player should know, pretty much off by heart.
To understand the following table, keep in mind that each type of bet is clearly delineated on the table itself and it’s in each of these areas that you place your bet. A “point” refers to numbers that aren’t the winning or losing numbers on the first dice. The way it generally works is bets are placed before the “shooter” – the one who rolls the dice – rolls, but this can be at various points in the game.
These are the usual payout rates, but check with the casino what their specific payouts are.
| Type of Bet/ Location on Table | Explanation | Winning Dice Roll | Payout |
| Pass Line | On the first roll: win on 7 or 11 and lose on 2, 3 or 12. Roll another number and it becomes your “point.” If the “point” is rolled again before a 7 is rolled, you win. | First roll: 7, 11, Other rolls: roll the “point” before 7 | 1 times your bet |
| Don’t Pass Line | The inverse of the above. On the first roll: win on 2 or 3. 12 is a “standoff”. 7 or 11 loses. Other numbers become your “point”. If a 7 is rolled before that number, you win. | First roll: 2,3
Other rolls: Roll 7 before the “point” |
1 times your bet |
| Come | A point is established with the first roll. Subsequent rolls for the exact same rules as playing the Pass Line | Roll the “point” before rolling 7 | 1 times your bet |
| Don’t Come | The inverse of the Come with the same rules as the Don’t Pass Line after the first roll, | Roll 7 before the “point”. | Even |
| Any 7 | This is a one-roll bet. Win on a 7, lose on everything else. | Roll 7. | 4 times your bet |
| Any 11 | Bet on any roll. If 11 is rolled, you win. Lose on everything else. | Roll 11 | 15 times your bet |
| Hard Way | Select from 4, 6, 8 and 10 and bet on one of them. The number rolled must come up in the sequence laid out on the table for the player to win. If a 7 is rolled or the number comes up in the wrong order, the player loses. | Roll one of 4, 6, 8, 10, but in the correct sequence | 9 times your bet for 6 and 8; 7 times your bet for 4, 10 |
| Any Craps | May only be bet on the next roll only and it’s a one-roll bet on the 2, 3, or 12. If any other number is rolled, the player loses. | 2, 3, 12 | 7 times your bet |
| Field | Bet on any single roll of the dice for this bet. Payouts vary depending on what you land on. Win on 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12. Lose on any other number. | 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12 | 3, 4, 9, 10, or 11 – 1 times your bet. 2 – twice your bet. 12 – 3 times your bet. |
| Big 6 or 8 | Bet on 6 or 8. If it is rolled before a 7 you win, after you lose. | 6 or 8 | 1 times your bet |
| Horn Bet | A one-roll bet that can be made at any time, where you place money evenly on 2, 3, 11, or 12. If they come up exactly in the order shown, you win. | 2, 3, 11, 12 | 2 and 12 – 30 times your bet; 3 and 11 – 15 times your bet |
| Hop Bet | Another single-roll bet, where you bet on specific combinations of the dice. You can win the “hard way”, which needs a matched pair or the “easy way” with an unmatched pair. | Whichever two numbers you bet on. | Hard way – 30 times your bet, Easy way – 15 times your bet. |
