If you walk through any major casino, you can always hear one specific table that is significantly louder and more energetic than any other game in the building. The crowd is going wild while a single player throws two red dice down the length of a massive, incredibly confusing green felt table. This highly intimidating game is known as Craps. To someone who has never played, the craps table looks like an impossible mathematical nightmare. The felt is covered in weird text, complex jargon being yelled by the dealers. Yet, this is completely false. Despite its terrifying visual appearance, the core game is incredibly basic, and most profitable games in Vegas. By understanding one rule, you can confidently roll the dice.

The Core Mechanic: The Come-Out Roll

The only logical way to start playing this game is to ignore all the crazy bets in the middle. All those fancy boxes and strange words are terrible traps with massive house edges. You only need to look at the long line wrapping the table: the “Pass Line”. Making a Pass Line bet is how you play the game. When a new shooter gets the dice, the shooter makes the Come-Out Roll. With your money on the Pass Line, you win instantly if the dice total 7 or 11. You lose immediately on a 2, 3, or 12. The math is that basic: 7/11 wins, 2/3/12 loses.

The Second Phase of the Game: Chasing the Point

But what happens if the Come-Out roll is not a winner or a loser? If the shooter rolls any other number a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, the Point is established. The dealer will take a large plastic puck and places it onto the corresponding box. The rules of the game now completely change. To win your Pass Line bet, the shooter keeps throwing until they hit that exact “Point” number a second time. When the Point rolls, the table cheers and wins. However, there is a catch: if a 7 is rolled before the Point hits, this is called “Sevening Out”. You lose your bet, the round is over, and the next person shoots. The entire excitement is just players cheering trying to avoid the 7.

• The Best Bet in the Casino: Once a Point is established, you can place an ‘Odds’ bet behind your chips. This is known as taking odds and it is the only wager with absolutely zero house edge. The house has no advantage here.
• Don’t Pass Line: You can bet that the table will lose. This is betting on the 7, or when the shooter sevens out. It is mathematically slightly better, but you will be the most hated person at the table because you are cheering for everyone else to lose.
• Avoid the Center of the Table: The center layout with the huge payouts are sucker bets ranging from 9% to an absolutely brutal 16%. Never, ever place a chip in the center of the craps table.

Simplifying the Math: A Quick Summary

To simplify the game, to make things easy, look at this basic chart. It summarizes the absolute core mechanics of the Pass Line bet: the Pass Line.

Ultimately, do not let the loud table intimidate you. The operators create the board to look like a math puzzle specifically so uneducated tourists will randomly throw chips on terrible, high-house-edge sucker bets. By simply walking up, sticking to the basic rules, avoiding the middle of the table, and ignoring the proposition bets, you are playing one of the smartest, most mathematically sound game on the floor. Grab the dice, throw them against the back wall, and experience the greatest casino experience on the floor.