Playing The Game
Four casino employees supervise the Craps game in a casino.
They are:
Dealers (two) who settle bets, assist the players and keep
track of the action at the table.
Stickman (one) who assists the dealers, controls the dice,
minds the center table bets and keeps the game lively.
Boxman (one) who guards the casinos chips, ensures proper
payoffs, and is on guard for cheats. He keeps a sharp eye
on the dice and also makes sure that there is no collusion
between the dealers and players.
The first thing to do if you want to play Craps is to place
a bet.
For some players this is all they want to do. A player can
bet no matter whom the shooter is (you can wager for the shooter
to win or for the house to win) they don't have to roll the
dice themselves to wager. If you don't want to roll the dice
you simply decline the offer when the dealer offers you the
chance and the dealer will move on to the next player at the
table.
Assuming that you want to throw the dice, you have placed a
bet, and it is your turn the dealer will slide 5 or 6 dice
to you. From these you pick two dice (any two), these are
the ones you will play with.
The shooter then throws the dice for the first time. In order
to prevent cheating the casino insists that:
Prior to rolling the dice the shooter keeps them over the table
and handles them only with one hand. This eliminates the possibility
of the dice being switched for another set.
When the shooter does roll the dice he/she must throw them
hard enough that they bounce off the far end of the table.
This is the only way that you can be sure that a “true”
roll has occurred. In the event that you throw the dice too
hard and they bounce off the table the dealer will simply
slide more dice over to you and you can start over again.
On the first roll if the shooter throws a 7 or 11 then he/she
wins, and if he/she throws a 2, 3 or 12 the shooter loses.
If none of these numbers (2, 3, 7, 11 or 12) is thrown on
the first throw (the Come-out roll) then a Point is established
against which the shooter plays. The shooter continues to
throw the dice until either the Point or a Seven is thrown,
no other number is important in determining winning or losing.
If the shooter rolls the Point before rolling a Seven he/she
wins, however if the shooter throws a Seven before rolling
the Point he/she loses.