Finding the Craps table at any casino is easy—it’s always the rowdiest table around. For the most part, everyone wins together and loses together, creating comradery between Craps players. The fast-paced nature of the Craps game can be intimidating at first, but with a bit of guidance, you should be able to nail down the basic Craps casino rules and start playing the casino tables of a Craps game online.
The goal of Craps is to place bets and then roll the dice, with hope that the play outcome will match what’s needed to win your play bets. Typically, the casino Craps players around the play table take turns being the dice shooter. But when you play online, casino Craps games are structured a bit differently, making you the shooter every single time, so there’s no waiting around the Craps table for what’s arguably the best part of the game.
As for the real money bets, there are plenty of different ones to choose from, and some are more popular than others. We’ll explain how to place basic Craps bets and which ones are the easiest to start with. By the end, you’ll be familiar with the most common casino Craps real money bets and be ready to play online Craps like a pro.
How to Place Bets and Roll the Dice
In online casino Craps games, some money play bets need to be placed at the start of the Craps game round, while others can be wagered throughout the Craps game round. The ones that need to be placed at the start of the round include the Pass and Don’t Pass Lines (more on these shortly). Other play bets, like the Come and Don’t Come bets, become accessible only if a Point is established. And finally, one-roll bets like proposition bets, are available at any time, as they’re simply a wager on what the following roll will be.
No matter which of these you’re pursuing, the process is the same: Simply drop chips on the bets outlined on the table and click or tap “ROLL” to roll the dice.
Getting Started with Craps
A casino game round of Craps begins with what’s known as the come-out roll. This initial roll can lead to another round, or can conclude right away—it depends on the play outcome. Rolling a 2, 3, 7, 11, or 12 concludes the round with a win, loss or tie, depending on which play bets you placed. If any other number is rolled, you progress to the Point Round, with the number rolled becoming the “Point.” When a Point is established, you must roll the dice over and over until you either re-roll the Point number, or roll a 7. The Point round opens up the casino game table for more play bets.
The Easiest Bets to Place in Craps
You could get away with only ever playing the Pass Line and Don’t Pass bets in casino Craps and still have a lot of fun. For that reason, we’ll start with them in our online casino explanation of the different kinds of play bets available to Craps players.
Pass Bet
Pass Line betting is a good way to start learning the Craps game because it's the most basic bet you can make in Craps. Simply choose how much you want to play bet, and place the casino bet on the Pass Line located near the bottom of the board. Now let the first Craps round begin.
To start things off, you have the aforementioned come-out roll, and all that's involved is firing the play dice. If a 7 or 11 is rolled, the Pass Line bets win. If you roll a 2, 3 or 12, then that's a loss. If the number rolled is a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 (you'll see these play numbers displayed near the top of the board), then the number becomes the shooter's Point. In this play event, you'll see a white chip that says "ON" get placed on the Point number on the board to make it easier to remember. The shooter will then continue to roll the dice, hoping to re-roll the Point number because that's a win for all Pass Line bets. The Craps game turn ends when either the Point or a 7 is rolled with the dice.
Don't Pass Bet
The opposite of the Pass bet is the Don't Pass bet. If the come-out roll is a 2 or 3, you get paid real money. A 12 is a push, and a 7 or 11 is a loss.
If you've placed a Don't Pass bet, and the shooter has rolled a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, which becomes the shooter's Point – then you're hoping that a 7 is rolled before the Point number is re-rolled; this results in a real money payout for all Don't Pass bets.
Come
When you place a Come bet, you’re essentially starting a mini round with a secondary come-out roll. The Come bet, which is very similar to the Pass Line bet, becomes available during the Point round. Upon placing it, the very next roll will be like a come-out roll in that it will pay if you land a 7 or 11, and lose if you land a 2, 3, or 12. All other outcomes establish the Come Point. In the Come Point Round, you must land the Come Point number as opposed to rolling a 7.
Don’t Come
The Don’t Come is available once a Point has been established. It follows the same rules as the Don’t Pass Line bet, but exists within its own mini round. After you place a Don’t Come bet, the following roll becomes a second come-out roll as far as that Don’t Come bet is concerned. If you roll a 2 or 3, you win. If you roll a 7 or 11, you lose. A 12 is a tie. Other outcomes establish a Come Point. To win in the Come Point Round, you must roll a 7 as opposed to re-rolling the Point number.
Other Simple Craps Bets
The field is a simple way to add more real money bets to your Craps betting portfolio.
Field Bet
Above the Pass Line on the Craps board, you'll see the Field bar with the numbers 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, and 12. You'll also see the words “double” over the 2, and “triple” over the 12. If you place your bet on the field bar, then you'll get paid out at 1:1 if 3, 4, 9, 10 or 11 is rolled, and you'll be paid double your bet if a 2 is rolled and triple if a 12 is rolled.
How to Place Multiple Bets at Once
There are a couple of real money bets that complement each other on the Craps casino table. For example, the odds bets are designed to bolster the Pass Line and Don’t Pass bets. In order to get both of the bets on the board, you first place the Pass and Don’t Pass bets, and then, if a Point is established, you can put money on the Odds, which win and lose alongside their primary bet, but pay out at a better rate.
These Craps bets scratch the surface of Craps, but there are many more casino bets that you can experiment with once you get your feet wet in Ignition's online casino. Try playing a few practice rounds with the Pass Line and Don’t Pass Line to get a feel for the Craps casino game, and once you feel comfortable, you can begin to branch out and try different bets with real money. Soon enough, you'll go from learning the casino game to teaching others how to play Craps.