Online Craps - Don't Be Afraid to Jump In

Craps is not only considered to be one of the most exciting casino games, it's also known for offering gamblers the best possible odds of winning compared to most other casino games. Large groups can often be seen standing around the table cheering in excitement. The game has even developed an extensive vocabulary which you can read at our online craps terms and phrases page. 

How Online Craps is Played

To play live or online craps, players wager money on what they believe will be the resulting outcome following a roll (or series of rolls) of 2 dice. Participants play against the casino only and alternate tossing the dice. It makes no difference which player throws the dice as all players place their bets on the same roll.

A traditional land-based casino table is managed by 4 casino staff members: the boxman who watches over the chips and manages the dealers; 2 base dealers standing on each side of the boxman who collect & pay bets; and the stickman who stands on the other side of the table directly opposite the boxman, calls out the results after each roll and gathers the dice using a long wooden stick. The stickman also manages the wagers placed at the center of the table.

Learn to Play Online Craps

The person tossing the dice is referred to as the ‘shooter' and the shooter is changed every round. The first roll in each new round of play is known as the ‘come-out roll.' All wagers are contingent upon the total resulting sum of both dice, and never solely on a single die. When playing online craps, the shooter is simply dice which are randomly thrown and whose outcome is determined by a random number generator.

At the start of every new round, the stickman provides each new shooter with 5 dice from which the shooter selects 2. He or she is then required to make the minimum table wager on either the ‘pass line' or the ‘don't pass line.' When playing on the pass line, if the shooter rolls 7 or 11, you win. If he rolls 2, 3 or 12, known as craps, you lose. Any other number becomes the "point" and the game continues until a player hits that number again, or a 7 is hit in which case everyone on the pass line loses (the don't pass line wins). When playing online craps, all of this is handled automatically by the software of course.

Shooters are permitted to toss the dice using one hand only. (Online craps players may use as many hands as they have.) Also, the dice must bounce off the table's surrounding wall. The reason for this is to prevent would-be cheaters from replacing the dice or attempting what are known as ‘controlled shots.'

Those are the very basics of the game, but there are more complex craps rules and strategies as well as was to get better odds against the house by using free odds.

A Brief History of the Game

Online Craps is a long ways from where the game is said to have originated. It is believed the game was first played in Egypt way back in the 16th Century BC, making it  the oldest game of chance in which dice are employed. Some believe craps is the product of a game dating back to the Middle Ages known as Hazard. Others believe the game emanated from the time of the Roman Empire when - as a means of amusement - soldiers supposedly carved pig's knuckles into the form of cubes and tossed them into their inverted shields, hence the expression "to roll the bones."

Offline and Online craps, as we know it today, is undoubtedly the fastest, loudest and most exhilarating of all the conventional and online casino games. And, as mentioned above, it provides the best possible odds available.