If you like games that have a wide variety of stakes and a lot to learn, then craps is the way to go. There are tons of bets available in this game, and while it is one of the great draws for many players, it can also be extremely frustrating and intimidating for others. This is why we are going to cover dice game mechanics in a way that will help all players, regardless of whether you already know some of the rules or have no idea where to start.
At a craps table, one person will roll the dice while everyone else watches. The person who rolls the dice is called the shooter, and the outcome of all bets is based on the shooter’s rolls. The first roll of a turn is called the come out roll, and some rounds can have multiple rolls, depending on what happens. Everything in craps (or almost everything) centers around the come out roll and a bet that is made on that roll called the pass line bet. Understanding this bet is the key to understanding the vast majority of craps.
When placing a bet on the pass line, you will need to pay close attention to the outcome of the come out roll. Rolls of two, three, or 12 lose automatically and a new turn starts, but rolls of seven or 11 win automatically even with money. The remaining six numbers are called place numbers: four, five, six, eight, nine, and ten. If a place number is rolled, this establishes a value called the point, and takes you to another stage of the game.
During this next part of the game, the shooter will continue to roll the dice until the point is re-rolled or a seven is rolled. If the seven comes first, then the bet loses. Similarly, if the point is rolled first, then the bet wins. It’s pretty straightforward, and it’s pretty easy to understand once you learn to understand it. The vast majority of people, including everyone who plays well, will use the pass line bet as the foundation of their craps strategy. In general, this is the fundamental bet that you should know and you will learn all the mechanics of the game using this bet.