Rules for Playing Craps

Walking up to a Craps table and seeing all the different wagering options can be very intimidating to a new player. This is especially true when it appears that everyone else at the table knows what they are doing. Do not panic if you are a first-time player–there are just a few basic rules you should know regarding how to play Craps. Once you learn to play, you can concentrate on winning.

Buying Chips
1. Purchasing chips at a Craps table in a casino requires that several steps are followed for financial security reasons. Do not hand your money to the dealer. Instead, you must place your money on the table. The dealer will then present this money to another employee, known as the boxman. The boxman will then count the money and announce it. After that, the dealer will give you the chips to wager with at the Craps table.
Placing Your Bets
2. Placing your own chips on certain areas on the Craps table is permitted, but on some areas, the dealer must place the chips for you. You can place the pass and don’t pass wagers yourself as well as the come bet and the big six and big eight wagers. For any of the other wagers, toss your chips onto the table and let the dealer or stickman know what wager you would like.
Rolling The Dice
3. Players are given the opportunity to roll the dice when wagering at the Craps table. A player can agree to roll the dice or decline the opportunity. She can even choose another person to roll the dice on her turn. When rolled, if the dice strike the stack of chips that the boxman uses to collect and pay out wagers, the roll is considered invalid. Throwing the dice off of the table, onto the railing or the floor, is another type of invalid roll. The stickman will offer the dice back to the roller after an invalid roll.
Basic Wagers In Craps
4. Players wager on the results of the roll of two dice in the game of Craps. The first wager that players can make is a pass or don’t pass wager. This means betting that the roller of the dice will roll a seven or eleven on the first roll of his dice for the pass roll, or a two, three, or 12 for a don’t pass roll. If none of these are rolled, a point is established. The pass bet is then only won if that point is rolled again before a seven is rolled. The don’t pass bet wins if a seven is rolled before the point is rolled again.

Betting on specific numbers on the playing field of the Craps table are other basic wagers. These include wagering on a specific number to be rolled. Gamblers may also bet on specific combinations to show up on the dice, or for types of doubles to be rolled. Each of these bets is paid off based on the odds that they occur, and those odds vary based on the type of bet made.