Craps can be played with a single player or with several players. In a casino, craps is played with the casino administering the game in terms of running it, and backing it. The casino is the house and is responsible for paying out the players.
When playing craps, a player must roll the dice. The person who is tasked with rolling the dice is referred to as the shooter. The shooter rolls to establish point, which is the coming out roll. Once point is established, the shooter must make point prior to rolling a 7-out. Upon the shooter hitting a seven-out, the roll is passed to the next player, who rolls to establish point.
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How to Bet the Pass Line in Craps
There are various bets one can make. Learning what each bet does, as well as how it pays, is the first step in learning how to play craps. The basic bet in a game of craps is the pass line. To bet the pass line, you simply place the desired number of chips on the pass line in front of you. The pass line bettors are optimistic in nature, as they are betting that point will be made before the shooter throws a seven-out. The pass line pays even money, unless you buy “correct odds.”
How to Buy Correct Odds in Craps
While the pass line bet pays even money, the fact remains that the odds of point being hit are not even. In fact, some of the points are farther from even than others. However, in craps – a bettor has the ability to purchase correct odds. When you buy correct odds in craps, you simply set the appropriate amount of money directly behind your pass line bet. By doing this, you will earn a payout appropriate to the point.
When you buy correct odds on points of six and eight, you are paid six to five on your bet. When point is five or nine, the payout is three to two. When point is four or ten, the payout is two to one when you buy correct odds. Correct odds are true to form, in that they pay out at a rate that is equal to the likelihood of their occurrence.
Additionally, it is possible to bet “the wrong way” when playing craps. The wrong way bets are placed on the don’t pass line, and work the exact opposite of the pass line. With wrong way betting, you are relying on the likelihood that a seven is rolled before point. Instead of buying odds when betting the don’t, you lay odds. The odds you lay are inverse that which the pass line better buys for each point. Thus, when the don’t pass line lays odds on a point of four or ten, they lay odds of one to two. Once you have the hang of the pass/don’t pass bets, you can move on to other bets on the craps table.
How to Place Other Bets on the Craps Table
As even the casual observer can tell there is far more to the craps table than the pass/don’t pass method of betting. For example, craps players may play the field. When playing the field, we are making a one roll bet that the numbers two through four or nine through twelve will be the value of the next roll. If we are correct, the field bet pays even money, except if a two or twelve is rolled – at which time it pays two to one on all field bets.
Additionally, as craps players, we may place a bet. When we place a bet in craps, we are selecting a number from the boxes on the top of the craps table (four, five, six, eight, nine, or ten). We are betting that these numbers will hit before a seven occurs. We can also place a bet to lose, which is the exact opposite. When placing to lose, we bet seven rolls prior to the number we have chose.
Similar in nature to the place bet is the buy bet. However, with the buy bet, we are paying a commission of 5% in advance but getting correct odds. The opposite of a buy bet is a lay bet. Another bet we can place in craps is a hardway bet. When making a hardway bet, we believe that the number will occur in a pair (I.e. – the next occurrence of a four will come in two – two on the dice). Additionally, we are betting this will occur prior to the occurrence of a seven. By taking the time to understand how bets work in the game of craps, you have taken the first and biggest step in learning how to play craps.