15 Tips: Craps For Beginners

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If you’ve run out of exciting table games to play, you should choose craps. Every modern casino has several craps tables. If you’re already in a casino, just head for the screams: that’s where you’ll find the craps table. It looks like something between a bathtub and a billiard table without pockets, with a rather complex layout in its center. A standard double-layout: craps table needs four men to maintain it: a Boxman, a Stickman, and two Dealers. You may entertain yourself for a while by watching how the dealers and the stickman handle bets and dice. If you eventually want to become a winner, watching the table staff is the best thing you can do as a beginner.

What Do You Need to Know to Play Craps?

Craps is a game about math. Every bet on the table has its house edge, and there are some bets you don’t ever want to make. Craps players use unique lingo and are highly superstitious, which means that except for knowing the bets and proper strategy, you have to learn many other things. Imagine that you’ve muttered a number to yourself, and all players stand up and walk away from the table. It might look weird, and it surely will upset you for the rest of the night, but that’s how craps works. Are you willing to bet against the shooter to lower a house edge? Get your portion of disapproval from the rest of the players. There are many such situations, and we will go through them all in this paper.

All learn, no play; that’s the ticket. If you’re a novice player, you’d better learn how to play craps outside of a land-based casino, because no one will wait until you catch up at a real table. An online casino is the perfect place to practice playing Craps for beginners.

All in all, Craps is a highly social game. You’ll get cheers for a lucky roll of the dice that brings wins to players around the table. If you like to be the center of everyone’s attention, you will be as long as you’re a shooter and you’ve got a lucky hand. It’s not like that with online craps, but on the plus side you do have time to make decisions and check up on rules and odds between game rounds.

It is necessary to note that Craps originated from the ancient game called hazard which was popular at the time of crusades. So, before moving on to the tips, you may get a general idea of the history of craps. It will provide you with a more comprehensive picture of how to play this involving game.

15 Tips to Make You Better at Craps

There are some universal rules that can be applied to any game of chance. They are crucial in terms of keeping a balance and a healthy attitude. If you underestimate these aspects of gambling, you risk falling a victim of the addiction.

• Set a loss limit. Do it before you start playing. Unless you have unlimited money, which is a pretty rare occasion, it is essential to stick to your budget plan. If you’ve decided to spend $200 in a casino today, walk away when you reach the bottom of it and don’t look back.
• Divide your balance into parts. This way, it will be easier to analyze. It’s just a mind trick that allows you to see clearly whether you’re in danger of exhausting your funds.
• Quit the game while you’re ahead. Since the casino has the advantage over players in the long run, by playing more, you increase the possibility of losing. If you were lucky to win a serious sum of money, consider quitting the casino. If it’s not your way of playing, you may play with only your winnings, which would be more reasonable.
• Don’t chase your losses. This will be familiar to any gambler, and, again, it’s all about the house edge. If you’ve already lost, you’re more likely to lose more than to bounce back. Keep that in mind, especially if you’ve set a loss limit and have already reached it.

Moving to particularly craps-related tips, we will give you the essence of helpful information. If you’re interested in as many details as possible, there are whole books dedicated to craps strategies.

• Bet against the dice. Pass Line bets (with the dice – hoping that 7 or 11 will be the first number) go with 1.41% house edge, while Don’t Pass bets (against the dice – hoping for 2, 3, or 12) go with 1.36%. It’s not like you’ll get much of the 0.05% difference, but it matters in the long run. Be prepared to have all other players at the table betting with the shooter and being unhappy about you winning when they lose.
• Always take the Odds bet. This type has zero house edge, which means that a casino has no advantage over you. As you may have figured, it’s a pretty rare occasion, and you’d better take advantage of it as often as you can.
• Don’t take proposition bets. Props mean wagering on the results of the next roll. They add excitement to the game but are not profitable, as the house edge raises up to 13.98%. It’s strongly recommended not taking these bets while being a novice in craps.
• Don’t take Big 6 and Big 8 bets. These types of wagers imply that 6 or 8 will be rolled before 7. Compared to the place bets on 6 and 8, Big 8 and Big 8 have a much worse payout: 7:6 and 1:1 respectively.

Following these tips, you can reduce your losses and make more reasonable decisions at the table. For now, let’s discover some things that might be helpful while playing specifically in a land-based casino.

• Learn the table before joining the game. Observe how different players throw the dice. Some of them might have more dice control than others.
• After choosing the table, learn who is the luckiest shooter. If you can hop on someone’s luck and have a ride on it for a while, why miss the chance?
• Look for a professional player. While you’re new to craps, most players around the table will be more experienced. You may spot the most experienced player thanks to a massive pile of chips nearby, for example. You can mimic such customers for a while and use their experience to your advantage. Doing so for a long time may be considered impolite, so prepare to think on your own after noticing some patterns.
• Don’t follow the dealers’ suggestions. Dealers work for the casino, and the more their table earns, the better they look. You may hear something along the lines of “You’re really lucky today, try betting hardways!” (it means hoping for the same two numbers to appear). Don’t fall for that.
• Tip the dealers. If you want them to stop giving you dubious advice and start cheering you for every win, tip them. Some players also like to place bets on behalf of dealers, but you might not get a good attitude if you put a snake eyes bet for the dealers and it loses.
• Do not mention the number seven. It is considered bad luck. If someone says “7”, it’s not uncommon for many players to leave a table. If you want to refer to 7, say “it.” Some players prefer to say “devil.”
• Don’t forget to remove your winnings from the table. If you don’t do that, they will be wagered again. If it lays, it plays.