The craps table is always one of the most popular – and rowdiest – tables at brick-and-mortar Xgtiger Casino and is just as fun to play online. Craps gambling can intimidate some players with its complicated betting format, so in this article we’ll explain the rules and pick some of the best craps bets to make.

We’ll start with four easy steps to get you started playing Craps whether online or in a casino.

The Easy Way to Play Craps

1. The player makes a Pass Line Bet.

The Dealer chip is set to ‘OFF’ to indicate that the Come Out Roll has not yet taken place.

The player moves their chip(s) to the Pass section of the board to make a ‘Pass’ bet.

2. The Come Out Roll is made.

The two dice are rolled by a shooter (ie one of the players), or for online play they are rolled using a random number generator to create a completely random outcome.

if…

7 or 11 (“Natural”) are rolled: All players who bet on the Pass win.

2, 3or12 (“Craps”) are rolled: All players who bet on the Pass lose.

4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 (“Points”) are added: This number becomes the score Points and the game continues.

3. The Point Number is set and additional bets can be made.

The Dealer token is set to ON, meaning it is possible to make another bet.

Players continue their bet on the Point number and may add any other bet they choose to make.

4. The dice are continuously rolled until the Point Number or a 7 appears.

The player wins if the Point number appears before 7.

The player loses if a 7 is rolled before the Point number.

When any of the above is rolled, the Dealer chip is set to OFF again and a new Come Out roll occurs.

Let’s now take a deeper look at playing Craps as we go through each step in more detail below:

The ‘Come Out’ Stage in Craps

There are two phases of playing Craps, and the first of these is called the ‘Come Out’ phase. Before it starts, players can choose to bet on either ‘Pass’ or ‘Don’t Pass’ in what is called a ‘Pass Line Bet’.

Most players will bet on the ‘Pass’, which is done by adding a chip to that section of the board.

When you start playing Craps online, you will see the dealer button showing the word ‘OFF’, which means the Come Out phase of the game is underway. In this phase of the game, a player rolls a dice and the result determines how the game progresses.

There are three potential outcomes:

Roll a 7 or 11 (‘Natural’)

Roll a 2, 3 or 12 (‘Craps’)

Roll a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 (‘Points’)

Rolling 7 or 11 is an instant win, while rolling 2 (‘snake eyes’), 3 or 12 is a loss. If any other number is thrown (i.e. 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10) then this number becomes the ‘Point’ number. The dealer button will switch to ‘ON’ and is moved to the space on the board next to the number rolled.

Now we move to the ‘Point’ phase of the game.

The Point Bet in Craps

If we think that a 6 is rolled, this will be the Point number, and the player’s chip is moved from the Pass section to the number 6 section of the board.

The game continues until either a 6 (win for the player) or a 7 (loss for the player) is rolled.

There are many betting alternatives available to players in the Point section of the game, but one of the most popular of these is Come Bet.

The player can now place additional chips in the Come section of the board as the point has been established.

Like the Pass Line Bet, players win if a ‘Natural’ (7 or 11) is rolled and lose if a 2, 3 or 12 is rolled. If another number is rolled, it becomes another Point number, and the player’s chip is moved from the Come section to whatever number is rolled.

Now the number 7 becomes a ‘bad’ number for the player, as they will only win if the point number is rolled again before the next number 7 appears.

Other Craps Bets

There are many other betting options open to Craps players besides those outlined above, and we will cover them in more detail in our article on Craps Betting and Payouts.

These bets involve betting on numbers or groups of numbers to be drawn, and have different payouts and probabilities which we review in our betting post.

One particular bet that deserves attention is the ‘Odds’ bet (or Taking Odds).

This bet is notable because it is the only Craps bet with a zero percent house edge, making it excellent value for players. This bet is not always available in online casinos, but can be placed in physical casinos by placing a multiple of your chip bet (usually x2 your bet value) behind your Pass or Come bet section of the board.

This bet works the same as a Pass/Come bet, except that it pays from 6/5 to 2/1, depending on which number is rolled.

For Stephen Tabone’s craps betting tips, be sure to check out our guide, and if you’re confused about some of the vocabulary around the game be sure to check out our Craps Glossary of common expressions.

Conclusion

Are you an avid gaming fan and wondering how to bet on online casino games? At Xgtiger Casino, you will get the latest information on this year’s best casino games and a variety of gaming options, all in one place.

To start your online gambling journey, all you need to do is create an account on the site, deposit funds and you will be ready to bet on the best and most anticipated casino games.

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