The Online Casino Gambling Blog

Two important tips for the new craps player - Casinos are always looking for ways to make more money, the more you lose the better they make out so here are two major bets you absolutely should not take when playing Craps.

One, never bet the field, it has less than a fifty percent chance of being rolled despite having the most numbers. This is simply because the numbers 5,6,7 and 8 have the biggest likelihood of being rolled as they add up most in combinations of the dice. So while the area may be large and the wager enticing what you’re really getting is tricked by the house into making a foolish bet.

and two: Don’t take bets in the center of the layouts like Any Seven or Hardways, they’re there to lure you away from the smarter bets off to the side. These are both ways for the house to increase its advantage over players in craps because the house advantage is much lower in craps than in many other games.

If you’re on the lookout for a new game or something where the house has less of an edge than most others then you’re looking for Craps. Craps is the game most often featured in movies or television shows set in casinos, most often you find a young man at the tables with a pretty girl who blows on the dice for luck in the movies. This is not a prerequisite to actually playing craps (and girls if you happen to find a hotboy in the area who you’d like to blow on your dice for luck then go ahead and ask him, I’m sure he’ll be flattered). The only prerequisite is a craps table, some chips and a pair of dice.

Bettors on the game don’t even actually have to throw the dice, they can just bet on whether whoever is throwing said pair of dice will win. To win in the first round the thrower must roll a 7 or an 11. Rolling a 2, 3, or 12 is known as rolling ‘craps’ and is an automatic loss. If the player rolls any other number this becomes known as the ‘point’. To win now the player must roll that ‘point’ number again before a 7 is rolled. Craps is a bit complicated so it’s best to practice before hand and read up on it as much as you can before you head out to the casinos.

Craps players are a league unto their own for the most part, dealing with a game that requires only luck and no skill. Only the very lucky win at craps, everyone else gets left with well crap. However there are constant rumours circulating about players at casinos who can control the dice and I don’t mean telepathically. Players who have devised a method to holding the dice, the angle at which they throw them, the speed at which they fly through the air and bounce off the opposite side of the table. If this is true these players must have a fantastic grasp on the physics of moving objects.

Stanford Wong a notable gaming expert even claims that this technique exists. Wong is the writer of many gambling books, coaching inexperienced players into becoming experts through his words so it’s hard to dismiss his idea as rubbish. So maybe you can consciously control the way the dice fall. Maybe you can mentally estimate the angle and speed needed to throw the dice so they don’t come up snake eyes. Then again maybe you can sink a basket from across a room or strike out a batsman. I’m not saying these aren’t possible, I’m saying that it’ll take years of training like athletes go through to eventually have that kind of grasp on the dice. Not to mention that this skill is mostly useless if you play craps at online casinos! Good luck if you’re willing to try I say.

Here are a few quick craps tips from some experienced players.

- If you don’t understand something ask the dealer, they’re there to answer your questions.

- Keep your hands off the table when someone is throwing the dice – you don’t want to accidentally ruin someone’s throw!

- Throw the dice, don’t drop them or slide them across the table, this is close enough to cheating it can make casinos suspicious of you.

- Play at tables that are within your budget, a bad roll at a high stakes table and you’ll be out of playing money in no time.

- Don’t go in without knowing the minimum bet.

- Always collect your winnings, no one else is going to remember how many chips you won in five minutes.

- Don’t bet down the middle, proposition bets in the middle of a table can carry a 16% high house advantage.

- Your best strategy for a night of fun rather than a few minutes is a Pass/Don’t Pass or Come/Don’t Come bets.

For the novice Craps player, here’s a glossary of all the names of the different equipment and marks on the table you’re likely to come across.

The Come Box

The Come Box is in the top middle area of each side. Bets on the Come Box like bets on the pass line mean you believe that the dice will pass or a point will repeat before a seven-out happens but you can only make this bet after a come-out roll. You win on this bet if a player hits a seven or an eleven but if a player shoots a two, three or twelve then you lose and if a player shoots a point then your come bet goes on that number and you win if that number repeats before the next seven is rolled and lose if the seven hits before that number.

 The Don’t Come Box

The Don’t Come Box is in the top outside corner of each side. Like the Don’t Pass Line it bars the 12. Any player with a bet in the Don’t Come Box wins if a player shoots a two or three but if a player shoots a seven or an eleven then the player with the bet in the don’t come box loses.  

The Field

The Field is found just in front of the Come Line on both sides, bets in the field last only one roll of the dice if a player rolls five, six, seven or eight the player with the bet in the field loses but if a player rolls a two, three, four, nine, ten, eleven or twelve the player with a bet in the field wins.The Place Bets

Here’s a quick and dirty lowdown on the basic rules for craps.    Craps is one of the few games where the player is the direct cause of the outcome – the numbers the dice lands on. Don’t let this intimidate you, there’s no right way for throwing a pair of dice. There is however a wrong way – don’t handle the dice with both hands before throwing this could lead the casino to suspect you’re trying to switch their dice with your own loaded pair, needless to say you don’t want them getting this idea. Other issues you may have when rolling the dice is that your throw may go wide and the dice fly off the table, don’t worry about this everyone does it. You want to be sure you don’t throw or ‘shoot’ the dice too softly either as in order for the roll to be valid the dice have to hit the opposite side of the craps table. Or if you’re a shy shooter you can simply bet on other people’s rolls, when it’s your turn just pass the dice to the next player on your left. 

 Any new shooter’s first roll is called their “Come Out” roll, your goal here is to make a point which you do by rolling a 4,5,6,8,9 or 10. If you roll a 2,3 or 12 then the roll is a loss, if you roll a 7 or 11 of course the roll is a winner. Your turn isn’t over until you roll a 7 after making your first point; this is called a “Seven Out”. Once you make your first point you are marked as “On” for that particular craps table and can then make wagers at that table. 

Craps Tips:

Take a risk only when it’s your turn to roll.
Bet low until you’re playing with your winnings.
Until you’ve built up your winnings only take small risks.

Video Poker Tips:

Do you know what each hand pays? Find out!
Every game doesn’t pay the same amount!
Do you know which cards are wild? Find out!
If you want to hit the video poker jackpot you have to place the maximum bet.

Until you’re confident in how it all works play for the small wins.

At Craps you can either be a Right Player or a Wrong Player but fear not, neither of those designations refers to whether you win or not. A Right player bets with the dice, hoping the numbers will repeat featuring a lot of sevens and elevens. The right player wants the dice to pass and so bets with the dice.

However, your odds are about the same betting for or against the dice thus it doesn’t matter if you’re a “Wrong Player” or a “Right Player” as it’s equally likely the dice won’t feature a lot of sevens and elevens. Casino Craps is not a game of skill, it can only be won by luck. However this doesn’t mean you should play without any thought at all, after all if you make imprudent bets where the house has an advantage over you then it’s highly unlikely you will walk away from the craps table a winner.

The smartest way to play is to only place bets that give the house a minimum of advantage over you. This means making a passline wager and taking the maximum odds on a point if a point has been established. Now if you are unsure what the minimum bet you can make on an odds bet you can always consult the dealer.

If you’re feeling a little bit more adventurous you can instead make a come bet or two taking the maximum free-odds. With this bet if you hit a lucky roll of the dice you can win quite a pretty penny and you’re only giving the house 0.8% in a single odds craps game or 0.6% in a double odds game.

This type of betting of course makes you a ‘tough player’ because you’re giving the house little advantage by making the best and smartest bets. If you follow this method and lady luck smiles on you, you can walk out of that casino with a very nice hand of cash.

Hello Players

I wonder how many of you play craps. Seems like a game you see only on TV doesn’t it. Trust me however it is a very exciting game and the online version makes it accessible to just about everyone.

Today I am just gonna give you the very basic of strategies. This is you should always make bets where the casino has the smallest possible edge on you the player. This sounds like a no brainer but you would be suprised how many players are tempted by the exotic looking bets where the house is sure to clean you out.

So what are these bets? They are the “pass”, the “come” , the “don’t pass” and “don’t come”.  The house edge on these bets and others are as follow:

Pass & Come Bets - 1.41% House Edge
Don’t Pass & Don’t Come Bets - 1.40% House Edge
Big 6 & Big 8 - 9.1%
Field Bet - 5.6%
Craps 2 - 13.9%
Craps 12 - 13.9%
Horn - 12.5%
Any 7 - 167.7%

Clearly it is in your interest to make the low % house bets. Look out for more craps bets to follow. Why not go try these bets out now.

Regards

Sarah Harrigan

Online Casino Craps and Online Gambling Strategies