Most people begin shooting craps at home. Just in case you’ve never played the game at all or are a beginner we’ll start with the fundamentals of play, and then touch on betting.
You throw a pair of dice, two cubes, bearing dots 1 to 6 inclusive. If the dots total 7 or 11 on the first roll, you win your bet, and the throw is called a “natural.”
Should the dice add to 2, 3 or 12 on the first roll, it’s “craps” and you lose. You keep the dice, however, and throw again.
When you as the shooter win, it is called a “pass.” When you lose, it is called a “missout” or “miss.” This is not always decided on the first roll. Instead of a “natural,” “7, 11″ or a “crap” - 2, 3, 12 - a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 may appear. Then, any such number becomes your “point” and you try to “make the point” by rolling it again before a 7 appears. Here, 7 is no longer lucky. Also, 2, 3, 11 and 12 have no significance when you are trying to “make the point.”
You keep on shooting until you “pass” by bringing up the needed “point” or until you “miss” by rolling a 7. If you “pass,” you win the bet, keep the dice, and proceed to make another bet.
BETTING
The following combinations should be committed to memory even before you pick up a pair of dice:
- There’s just one way to roll a 2: 1-1 - There are two ways to roll a 3: 1-2, 2-1 - There are three ways to roll a 4: 1-3, 2-2, 3-1 - There are four ways to roll a 5: 1-4, 2-3, 3-2, 4-1 - There are five ways to roll a 6: 1-5, 2-4, 3-3, 4-2, 5-1 - There are six ways to roll a 7: 1-6, 2-5, 3-4, 4-3, 5-2, 6-1 - There are five ways to roll a 8: 2-6, 3-5, 4-4, 5-3, 6-2 - There are four ways to roll a 9: 3-6, 4-5, 5-4, 6-3 - There are three ways to roll a 10: 4-6, 5-5, 6-4 - There are two ways to roll an 11: 5-6, 6-5 - There’s just one way to roll a 12: 6-6
Now let’s start the private game. Each player rolls the dice to determine who comes closest to 12 in one roll. The highestand starts the game.
The shooter bets whatever amount he wants - for our purposes here let’s say it’s a dollar - and places that amount in the center of a circle formed by the players.
Now the money or the “center bet” is covered or “faded” by one or more players. That is, one player may put down a dollar and cover all of it, or two or more players may choose to take a portion of the bet. Anyway, the money is faded and the shooter rolls the dice.
To get the game off to a good start, we’ll say the shooter rolled a 7, a “natural,” so he wins. Remembering the probabilities in dice, there are exactly 6 such combinations out of a possible 36. (11 would have been a “natural” too - with only two ways to roll it). Our shooter was pretty lucky here.
With two dollars in the center, he can either “let it ride” - bet that amount on the next roll, or draw a portion of it and bet the remainder on the next roll. Also, he can draw the two dollars and pass the dice to the next player on his left. But that is rare.
Let’s say that the shooter chooses to “let it ride.” He shoots again and this time it’s a 3 - “Craps.” So he loses the money but retains the dice. Out of 36 possible combinations, there are only 2 ways to roll a 3. (Of course, 2 and 12 would have been “Craps” as well - and there’s just one way to roll each of those numbers out of a possible 36 combinations). So our shooter wasn’t too lucky this time.
See how exciting this simple game can be. Have fun!
0 comments:
Post a Comment