Craps is a game where players either bet on a shooter making their “point”, or not making their point. You bet with the shooter when you bet on them making the point, and against the shooter when you bet on them not making the point.
The shooter throws two six sided dice from one end of the craps table to the other. Most casinos require that they are thrown with enough force to bounce of the back wall.
To bet a pass line bet with the shooter you place your bet physically on the pass line. Bets must be placed before the shooter lets go of the dice. The pass line is the wide band usually labelled with a capitalized ‘PASS LINE’ that runs along the outside of the table layout. To bet against the shooter you place your bet on the don’t pass line.
A simple pass line bet works as follows: You place your bet on the pass line before a new shooter begins their roll. Physically, you simply place your chips in the middle of the big band labelled the pass line. If the shooter rolls a 7 or 11 you win. If the shooter rolls a two, three or twelve, you lose. If the shooter rolls any other number, that number becomes the point number. If you’re betting with the shooter, you want them to roll that number (the point) again before a seven is rolled. If that happens, you, and the shooter win. If a seven is rolled before the point number is rolled again, you lose and the shooter lose. The process begins again when either a seven is hit, or the point is hit.
For the come out roll, or the first toss for a new shooter, the player wants to hit a 7 or an 11 because it’s an instant win. They want to avoid a 2, 3, or a 12 because it’s an instant loss. The great thing about internet craps is you can jump into the betting any time; the only exception to this states that you can’t bet the “pass line bet with odds” on the come out roll simply because you can only bet with odds when the roller is going for the point.
A pass line bet with odds is when you’re making a pass line bet on the point, and then placing an extra portion of money down just below your bet. This ‘odds bet’ pays off slightly higher than the 1 to 1 the pass line pays.
Basically this is how to play internet craps at the most basic level. Other types of more complex bets include “come bets” whereby additional money and odds (which are optional) are moved to a number other than 7 or the point which pay out to the player if that number is rolled again before either the point or 7.
There are many one-time roll bets as well as bets that can be placed which require certain combinations of denominations to be rolled. Meaning, a player can bet that 2 4’s will be rolled before 5 and 3 to make up a denomination of 8. Denominations that can be split equally are called “hard bets.” Obviously, only even numbers can have hard bets placed on the table by a player.
More complex bets are available to advanced players.