Craps 24x7

If you are trading after hours, you are basically playing Craps with the market. So if you're willing to do that, you might as well go to Vegas and play real Craps, because at least you might have fun doing it.
Mark Brandon, Australian Author

I've always played cards. I can't remember when there wasn't a gambling game going on somewhere, even if it was a craps game in a wheelbarrow on the backside of the racetrack.
Wilford Brimley, American Actor

I just did some real gambling. I went to Las Vegas. I was playing Craps because I had a lot of money and I needed to lose it very quickly.
Greg Fitzsimmons, American Stand-Up Comedian

He's an honest man - you could shoot craps with him over the telephone.
Earl Wilson, American Journalist

To me, film right now is dormant. It's a sleeping giant. It's the plaything of corporations. The people who determine what American film is today are no different from high rollers who go to Las Vegas. They just want to take all the money and put it on one big number and roll the dice on that number and if it craps out, next number. Next case.
William Friedkin, Director “The French Connection and The Exorcist”

The origin of the dice can be traced to prehistoric times when a primordial fortuneteller used to throw sacred arrows, bones, sticks and stones upon the ground trying to predict the future for his tribe. Before they became gambling devices, the dice were the shaman’s attributes. After that they went through a long evolution of shape, size, form and markings. They were made of wood, stones, bones, animal teeth and horns, nutshells and seeds. In Greek and Roman civilizations the dice were made of expensive materials like ivory, precious stones, metals, and porcelain. The material for modern casino dice is hard cellulose. The dice edges are razor sharp, and the corners are needle sharp. The cellulose is transparent to avoid dice loading. The history of the dice and the dice games in general is few thousand years old. However, the history of modern craps is only hundred years old. The direct predecessor of modern craps was an English game called "Hazard". There is historical evidence that it was played by the soldiers in twelfth century during the Crusades, led by the three most powerful kings of Western Europe: Frederick Barbarossa of The Holy Roman Empire, Philip Augustus of France and Richard the Lion-Heart of England.

English Hazard became very popular in New Orleans around the 1800’s, where French called it craps. After that rules and odds changed many times. A few new variations of the game popped up which were simpler and faster than original Hazard. One variation, Table Off, became especially popular with gambling establishments at the end of 19th century. At that time casino tables and a simple layout, featuring the 6 and 8, the Field, the Win and the Come bets, were introduced. However, the players could bet only with the dice against the House.

John H. Winn revolutionized the game and made it possible for the craps players to bet right and wrong. He improved a layout accordingly and drew a space for Don’t Pass bets. In 1931 casino gambling was legalized in the State of Nevada and Casino Craps became popular all over the world.

Rolling the Dice
Craps is a game of rounds. The first roll of a round is called a Come Out Roll. A round can last just one roll or a several rolls, depending on what's rolled and when.

Each player takes turns rolling the dice. The player who's rolling is called the Shooter. Everyone wagers on the same roll of the dice, whether they're the Shooter or not. The Shooter keeps rolling until he "sevens out" (rolls a seven at the wrong time), and then the next player gets to roll.

Pass Line Bets
The basic bet is the Pass Line Bet and it pays even money. Make this bet by waiting for the Come Out Roll, and then putting your chips on the area of the table marked “Pass Line”.

After all bets are placed the Shooter rolls the Come Out Roll.
The dice totals listed below reflect the possible roll outcomes.
7 or 11 Natural - Winner
2, 3, or 12 Craps -Loser

4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 Point - Shooter rolls again

If a Point Roll is thrown, the dice are rolled until either the Point number comes up or a seven, whichever happens first. The dice are then reset, and a new Come Out Roll is thrown.

Don’t Pass Line Bets
This is a bet that the Shooter will lose. To place this bet, place your chips in the box marked Don't Pass on the table. This area is also known as the Black Line. Like the Pass Line Bet, this bet must be made before the Shooter's Come Out Roll.

After all bets are placed the Shooter rolls the Come Out Roll. The dice totals below reflect the possible roll outcomes.
7 or 11 Loser
2 or 3 Winner
12 Push (you get your wager back
4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 Point – Shooter rolls again

After the Point was established, If the Shooter rolls a 7 before the Point is rolled, then The Don’t Pass Line wins

Come Bets
The Come Bet is only placed after the Point was established. After that the bet is exactly like a Pass Line Bet and pays even money. To wager, place your chips on the Come Box at your section of the table. Once the Point has been made, then the dealer will remove your chips from the come box and then place it in the appropriate slot for that number.

If you lose your chips are removed from the Come Box and added if you win. Be sure to pay attention and remove all the chips that you do not want to bet from the Come Box or the dealer will assume they are to be wagered.

Don’t Come Bets
The Don't Come Bet is the reverse of the Come Bet. The wager is placed by the player on the space marked as the Don't Come Bar after the Point is established. Winnings are paid off the Don't Come Bet Bar, and if they are not picked up at the end of the bet, they are automatically added to the next bet.

If the Shooter rolls a 7 before the Point is rolled the Don’t Come Bet wins.
If the Shooter rolls a 2 or 3 then you win even money.

Place Bets
This bet works only after the point has been determined. You can bet on a dice roll of 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10. You win if the number you placed your bet on is rolled before a 7. Otherwise you lose. The Place Bets payoffs are different depending on the number you bet on. 4 or 10 will pay 9:5; 5 or 9 pays 7:5, and 6 or 8 pays 7:6. You can cancel this bet anytime you want to.

Hardway Bets
The bet on a hardway number wins if it's thrown hard (sum of pairs: 1-1, 3-3, 4-4...) before it's rolled easy and a 7 is thrown. Payoffs: Hard 4 and 10, 8:1; Hard 6 and 8, 10:1

Field Bets
These bets are for one dice roll only.
2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12 Winner
5, 6, 7, 8 Loser

Field Bets have the following different payoffs: 2 pays double (2:1) while 12 pays 3:1. Other winning dice rolls pays even (1:1).

A very attractive redhead comes in and wants to bet $20,000 on a single roll of the dice. She says, "I hope you don't mind, but I feel much luckier when I'm bottomless." With that she strips naked from the waist down, and rolls the dice while yelling, "Momma needs a new pair of britches!" She then begins jumping up and down and hugging each of the dealers. "YES! I WIN! I WIN!" With that she picks up her money and clothes and quickly leaves. The dealers just stare at each other dumbfounded. Finally one of them asks, "What did she roll anyway?" The other answers, "I thought YOU were watching!"

How to Play Craps, Really
Craps is a casino dice game. Each player gets the chance to roll the dice, and the person rolling the dice is called the shooter.

So you place a chip on the Pass Line, and want the shooter to roll a seven, which is called a Dead Leprechaun, that's why you'll hear the other players screaming, "Dead Leprechaun, Dead Leprechaun!" If the shooter rolls a 3 or a 9, you lose unless that 9 is made up of a 4 and a 5.

If it's a 6 and a 3 instead, that's a Thunder Monkey, and it pays 3 to 2. Now, the worst thing that can happen is to throw a Tiny Rufus right after a Thunder Monkey, which is any roll where both dice are the same, except on Wednesday. On a Wednesday Thunder Monkey you'd get to make an additional bet as long as your first bet was between $2 and $7.50. But if the shooter doesn't automatically win or lose on the first roll, then the number becomes the Bastard, and that's why everyone wants to Nail the Bastard by rolling the same number again.

No matter what number has been rolled, if the shooter throws the dice so hard that they leave the table, he's said to be Banging the Babysitter, and has to give two of his chips to the youngest female player at the table. If there aren't any female players at the table, or if the shooter is younger than the oldest female, then he has to make a minimum 5-chip bet and roll the dice with his eyes closed. If you bet on that roll then you win if any number below 8 comes up but you lose if the stickman starts coughing up blood.

Now, an Exploding Baby is when the same number comes up three times in a row and the only thing worse than that is a Pregnant Midget. If you're lucky enough to roll Snake Eyes four times in a row, you get a $1-off coupon at the buffet, but if you roll Snake Eyes again after that your 401k will be canceled and your shoes will be confiscated. You can them back by rolling two 7's, but the only way to reclaim your 401k is to roll a 2, 3, 4, and 5 in order while the stickman shows you naked pictures of your mom. Now, stay with me here, because here's where it gets complicated: If you make a bet on the Pass Line, then you can't place any other bets except a Field Bet, Hardways, Big 6, Seven-Up, or Double Orange Latte Grande.

You never want to make more than three of these bets at a time, unless you're including a Seven-Up in which case you want to make all of them at once, except for the Field Bet. A player who bets all of these without excluding the Field Bet is called the Big Stinky by the other players and the cocktail waitress will stop serving him at that point, until he rolls a Tiny Rufus followed by a Vanilla Fetus (a 5 and a 6).

At that point, he has the option of getting a 6 to 5 payout if he gets a Dead Leprechaun or even money if he rolls a Liver Smoothie, which is when the dice land closest to the player with the Hawaiian shirt. If he doesn't roll either of those, then the dice are handed to the next player, who isn't allowed to roll, and so play passes to the next player. That player isn't allowed to roll either, but the dice become "dead" when they hit the third dead player, so a new pair is chosen by the stickman and given back to the first player.

The only way to win at this point is to double down and hope that the shooter rolls an 11 before two non-consecutive Thunder Monkeys. Otherwise, all the other players get to punch you in the face, as well as the stickman, but the stickman can use his stick on you, unless you've tipped him more than $3.