Vegas Week – How to Play Craps (Even if You’re Wicked Afraid)

This game is way too much fun to avoid and I'd like to quickly give you the very bare bones outline of how to play craps so you can add it to your casino repertoire and maybe even win!

Understand that this is a real baby steps approach, but I was petrified the first time I played and now it's my favorite game! First, go to the cashier cage and get $20 worth of $5 chips.

Next, step up to an empty spot at the table, one that has a few people at it already playing. Look for the puck, it looks a bit like a hockey puck, but one side reads "ON" and is white and the other side reads "OFF". If it's "ON", wait patiently until someone rolls a seven or wins. Once they flip that puck over to "OFF" it's your time to play.

All you have to do is put a $5 chip on The Pass Line pictured above. Now, here comes the part of craps that is most commonly portrayed on TV and in movies. The person with the dice will throw them and if a 7 or 11 is rolled...you win $5 ! If a 2-3 or 12 is rolled ... you lose $5 ! :(

If you understand everything so far, you are sooooo close to understanding this game.

The entire game hinges upon that FIRST ROLL. There are 6 other possible numbers that could be rolled on that FIRST ROLL, they are 4-5-6-8-9 and 10. If someone rolls a 6 on the FIRST ROLL... they will then continue to roll the dice hoping they roll another 6. If they roll another 6... you win $5! All the other numbers they roll in the quest to roll another 6 will not hurt you...except for 7...7 is the enemy.

After years of 7 being the heroic lucky number of victory...you now realize that it is the worst, most diabolical number on the craps table.

I think that a lot of people to whom I've tried to explain craps, can't get over that their precious "Lucky" 7 is bad. Now, it has easily become my least favorite number and hopefully this has made sense and you'll also hate the number 7 or most importantly learn to love craps like I do.

This post was for an absolute beginner who is absolutely terrified. In future posts, I'll tell you about a few different bets that you can make. Most of them are financially sound and some are not but are REALLY fun!

One More Thing: If you're afraid to roll the dice, you don't have to, just shake your head and say "No Thanks" when it's your turn to roll and they'll move them to the person to your left, people refuse to roll all the time, it's perfectly normal.