Craps looks like chaos because, well, it is. Multiple bets resolve on every roll, players are yelling, chips are flying, and the pace never lets up. But underneath the noise, the game has a clean structure. Once you see it, you'll never lose track again.

The two phases of every game

Come-out roll: The shooter's first roll. A 7 or 11 is an instant Pass Line win. A 2, 3, or 12 ("craps") is an instant loss. Any other number — 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 — becomes the "point."

Point phase: The shooter rolls until they either hit the point again (Pass Line wins) or roll a 7 (Pass Line loses, and the dice pass to the next shooter).

Pass and Don't Pass

The Pass Line is the simplest bet — it wins on natural 7/11, loses on craps, then waits for the point to repeat. Don't Pass is the mirror image: wins on 2 or 3, loses on 7/11, ties on 12, then wins if the 7 comes before the point. Both pay even money.

Come and Don't Come

After a point is established, players can place Come bets that work like a fresh Pass Line for them individually. A Come bet's "point" is whatever number the next roll is. Same for Don't Come, mirrored.

Place bets

Players can "place" 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 to bet that number rolls before the 7. Standard payouts:

  • 4 and 10: 9:5
  • 5 and 9: 7:5
  • 6 and 8: 7:6

Place bets are always paid in increments that match the payout (so place 6 and 8 in $6 increments, place 5 and 9 in $5 increments).

Proposition bets

The center of the layout is the proposition area — one-roll bets on specific numbers like Any 7 (4:1), Any Craps (7:1), Hard 8 (9:1), and so on. Proposition bets are high-energy and fun for guests. As a dealer, your job is to repeat the bet back clearly so the boxman and stickman are aligned: "Five-dollar Yo, sir, on the eleven."

Crew positions

A full craps crew is four people: two base dealers (one on each side), a stickman who calls the game and controls the dice, and a boxman who supervises. At smaller casino parties, you may run with just two dealers and no boxman. Be ready to flex into any role.

How to learn craps fast

Read the procedure ten times. Then deal at home with three friends pretending to bet. Then watch real-money craps tutorials at 0.75x speed. Then deal again. Within a week, the game stops feeling like chaos and starts feeling like music. The dealers who can run craps are the dealers who get hired for the bigger gigs.