Useful advice for playing craps at live dealer tables.

Justifiably, Craps is considered to be one of the most dynamic and exciting Live casino table games, and the player can almost without exception expect to see hordes of players and cheering bystanders surrounding the Craps table. The tensions and the adrenaline of the land based casino Craps table were successfully translated into the online casino Live Dealer studios and not too many Craps enthusiasts will have a reason to complain about the lack of authenticity, One advantage of online Live Craps is of course the increased control that the player can exercise – that aside, there is no essential difference between the land based and Live Dealer Craps version.

Basic Rules of Live Craps

One thing that differentiates Craps from other table games is the fact that the player is the one who initiates the round and not the dealer (not considering the act of placing bets). In the live stream version, a compromise had to be made for obvious reasons, and the table is usually hosted by two dealers, one operating the stick and the other rolling the dice on behalf of the online shooter.

The game starts when the participants submit the bets by clicking on the relevant chips, followed with the first round roll called the Come-Out Roll.  In the Live Table version, the players have sufficient amount of time to combine the chips value, remove the bet or change the amount. When the bets are closed, the dealer rolls the dice and the total is both announced by the Stickman and zoomed-in and displayed on the screen for transparency.

If the result of the dice roll is 2, 3, 7, 11 or 12 the round is ended; if however, the “point” is rolled  – the total is 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 –  the dice will be rolled again until a 7 or the point number comes up again.

Bet Types in Craps

Craps has a rich betting potential, offering quite a diversity when it comes to wagering options. The most popular are Pass Line and Don’t Pass bets, which, depending on the casino can be obligatory. They must be placed before the initial dice roll and the player who wagers on Pass Line wins if the total is 7 and losses on 2, 3 and 12. Other values will establish a point and the new roll will follow.

On the Don’t Pass bet, players win on 2 and 3 and lose on 7 and 11; the total of 12 will result in a push.

Come and Don’t Come bets resemble the Pass and Don’t Pass bets described above, however they are placed once the point is already established, and not before. Wagering on Come, the bet is won on 7 and 11 and lost on 2, 3 and 12. With Don’t Come, the players win on 2 and 3 and lose on 7 and 11.

Odds bets can be regarded as the extensions of the previous four bets and they are divided into Pass Line Odds, Don’t Pass Odds, Come Odds and Don’t Come Odds. Depending on the next roll, the bets will either win if the determined point is rolled or lose if a 7 lands on the table.

Place win/Place Lose bets are also submitted after the initial, Come-Out roll. The bet will cover numbers 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10, while number 7 will cost the players their bet. Place Lose is quite the opposite and the player only wins if a 7 is rolled before the above mentioned sequence of numbers.

Buy is a variation of the Place Win and you are essentially wagering that a certain number will be rolled before a total of 7. With Lay, the concept is reversed (players bet that 7 will be the first to land) and this wager comes with a 5% commission.

Big 6/Big 8 are pretty self explanatory and the player wins even money if a 6 or an 8 land before a 7, respectively.

Hardways are double dice numbers (two fours, two threes etc) that win if they come before a 7. Betting on numbers 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 or 12 is called a Field bet and it can either bring a 1:1 payout for 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11 roll or 2:1 payout for 2 and 12 rolls.

The bets with the highest payout rates (and a higher house edge as well) are called Proposition bets and they include the following options:

  • Any 7
  • Any 11
  • Any Craps
  • Any Deuce
  • Aces
  • Boxcar

Craps beginners may find the number of betting options intimidating, but once you gain some experience, it becomes obvious why the Craps tables are always so crowded. With a Live Dealer offer integrated in almost every online casino, Craps game is no longer off the limits for online gamblers and an average online player will finally get to see what all the fuss is about.

Are you a fan of this game? Then make sure to check out our reviews of Live Craps from the game providers Evolution and VIVO. Also this First Person Craps game from Evolution.