BEGINNER GUIDE TO CRAPS

Is craps hard to learn?

The short answer: no. The long answer: it looks hard because the table shows every possible bet at once, and the table is surrounded by a crew of casino employees moving fast and calling out results in a language full of slang ("yo eleven", "big red", "seven out"). All of that is intimidating but none of it is necessary.

Strip away the theatrics and craps is a dice game with two phases:

1. The shooter rolls two dice. You bet on the outcome.
2. Depending on what the shooter rolls, you either win, lose, or move to a second phase where the shooter rolls again.

That is the whole game. Everything else - the 20+ other bet types, the slang, the etiquette, the table positions - is optional depth. You can sit at a craps table knowing only one bet and play for hours without problems.

The one bet you need: pass line

If you learn nothing else from this page, learn this: the pass line bet is all you need to play craps.

Here is how it works:

1. Before the shooter rolls, place a chip on the part of the table marked "Pass Line" (it runs along the outer edge, curved toward you).
2. The shooter rolls two dice. This is called the "come-out roll".
3. If the dice total 7 or 11: you win. The dealer pays you even money (you get your bet back plus the same amount). A new round starts.
4. If the dice total 2, 3, or 12: you lose. The dealer takes your chip. A new round starts.
5. If the dice total 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10: that number becomes the "point". The dealer flips a disc (called the "puck") to "ON" and places it on the point number. Your bet stays on the table.

If a point was set, the shooter keeps rolling. Now you are waiting for one of two things:

• The shooter rolls the point again: you win. The dealer pays you even money.
• The shooter rolls a 7: you lose. This is called "sevening out". The shooter gives up the dice to the next player.

Any other roll - 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 that is not the point - just gets ignored. The shooter rolls again.

That is the entire game of craps as far as the pass line is concerned. Place your bet, wait for the outcome, collect or lose, repeat.

What a craps round feels like

Imagine you walk up to a craps table. You buy $100 in chips. You place a $10 chip on the pass line. The shooter grabs the dice and rolls.

Scenario 1: The dice come up 7. Everyone at the table cheers. The dealer pays you $10. You now have $110 in chips ($10 from your original bet plus $10 winnings). The puck stays "OFF". New round. You place another $10 on the pass line.

Scenario 2: The dice come up 4. The dealer flips the puck to "ON" and slides it onto the box marked "4". Your chip stays on the pass line. You are now waiting for the shooter to roll another 4 before they roll a 7. The shooter rolls 8. Nothing happens. They roll 11. Nothing happens. They roll 6. Nothing happens. They roll 4 - you win $10. The puck flips to "OFF". New round.

Scenario 3: Same point round. The shooter rolls 5. Nothing. Rolls 9. Nothing. Rolls 7. You lose. The shooter loses the dice. They pass to the next player. New round, new shooter.

That is craps. Every round is one of those three scenarios. Your job is to place the pass line bet, watch the dice, and react to the result. You do not need to do anything else.

Five common beginner mistakes

1. Trying to learn every bet before sitting down. You cannot. There are too many. Start with pass line, play for an hour, and add one new bet at a time.
2. Placing big bets on proposition bets. The center of the table has bets like "any seven" that pay 4 to 1 and sound exciting. They are actually the worst bets on the table with house edges over 16%. Ignore the center for your first hundred rounds.
3. Saying "seven" at the table. Craps players are superstitious. Saying the word out loud during a point round is considered bad luck. Nobody will throw you out for it, but you will get glared at.
4. Touching your chips mid-roll. Wait until the dealer has finished paying out before adjusting your bets. Touching chips while the dice are in motion is a rookie move.
5. Chasing losses. Every bet on a craps table has a positive house edge, which means the casino expects to win over the long run. Doubling up after a loss does not "get you back" - it just loses twice as much. Set a loss limit before you sit down.

How to practice before your first real game

Reading about craps gets you maybe 30% of the way to actually playing it. The rest comes from watching dice roll, placing bets, and seeing how rounds resolve in real time. The fastest way to get there is a free craps simulator.

Crapsee is built exactly for this. It is a free, browser-based craps table with cryptographically secure dice rolls. No signup, no credit card, no real money. Every bet on a real craps layout is available. You can:

• Place pass line bets over hundreds of rounds without spending anything
• Watch the come-out, the point round, and the seven-out resolve in real time
• Experiment with other bets once you are comfortable with pass line
• Build a sense of pace and timing before ever sitting at a real casino table

Open the free craps table

Next steps

Once you have played a few rounds on Crapsee and the pass line bet feels natural, your next reads are:

• How to Play Craps - the full guide with every bet, the table layout, etiquette, and terminology.
• Craps Bets Explained - every bet type on the table, one at a time, with examples.
• Craps Odds and Payouts - which bets have the best house edges (this matters).

Frequently asked questions