Craps, it’s an exciting game. But it’s easy to get carried away. Making poor betting decisions is the fast way to the poor house. Today, I’ll present five rules of Craps play that must not be broken. Do so at your own peril.

Rule One: Big 6 and Big 8

Never, I mean never, bet on the Big 6 or Big 8. These sucker bets only pay even money. Every time you win, you actually lose. Let’s imagine that you have a $12 bet on the Big 6 and a six is rolled. You’d win $12. However, had you placed the six instead, you’d be receiving $14. So now you’re losing $2 on every single “win.” Don’t ever bet on the Big 6 or Big 8. They are there to steal from lazy bettors.

Rule Two: Always Take Pass Line Odds

When you make a wager on the Pass Line, you should always take odds behind. If you’re not going to do so, why bet on the Pass Line to begin with? It’s just foolish. Don’t misinterpret this rule to mean you must max out your odds. All I’m saying is that you must take some odds-even single odds. The Pass Line is Craps is one of the better bets in the casino. Take it.

Rule Three: Hop Bets are a No No

If you don’t know what a hop bet is, good, don’t learn. If you do, don’t bet them. A hop bet is basically a lotto ticket with a poor payoff. There are much better things to do with your money on the Craps table. If you must throw your money away, look for a cute cocktail waitress or stack it up on the Pass Line. At least you stand a fighting chance of getting back something for your money.

Rule Four: Understand What Systems Are

There is no system for Craps out there that will win all the time. None. A Craps system is just a strategy for playing. Use them if you want, but don’t get suckered into thinking you’ll be unbeatable. Think about it. If the system was solid, we’d either all be retired or the casinos would be gone by now.

Rule Five: Never Bet Too Much

Let’s close this article out with a simple piece of advice. Gaming is entertainment. Don’t ever bet more than you can afford to lose-at the Craps table or anywhere. Betting more than you can afford to lose leads to bad decisions and mayhem.

Stick to these rules and you’ll be on your way to better Craps play.

Ah Craps, what a lovely game. Walk into any Las Vegas casino and listen. The Craps area will be the loudest-unless the game has taken a turn for the worst.

A great Craps game will be full of shouting, high fives, and unbridled enthusiasm. But, it’s not all roses. There are some action spots on the Craps layout that are sucker bets. Sure, they can be fun to play now and then, but make a habit of it and you’ll lose a serious chunk of your bankroll over time.

Today, I’ll quickly dish out three Craps bets that you want to either stay away from completely or play in rare instances.

Big 6 and Big 8

These two wagers are to be avoided at all costs 100% of the time. Never, and I mean never, play these bets.

The Big 6 and Big 8 only pay even money-read that again. So, if you put $6 on the Big 6 and/or Big 8 and win, you’re paid $6. I call this the lazy man’s bet. Had you simply placed the 6 or 8 instead, you’d be paid $7 for a $6 bet.

By betting the Big 6 or Big 8, you’re losing 16.6% of your money each time you win! That’s a sucker’s bet for sure.

Boxcars

In the center of the Craps layout, there’s the 12 bet-aka boxcars, midnight, etc-and it pays 30 for 1. Sounds great right?

Here’s the problem. First, it’s a one-roll bet. You either win or lose on the next roll. Second, it pays 30 for 1, but there’s only one way in 36 combinations to roll a 12. You’re losing 16% on your action before anything happens.

In other words, if you made the wager 36 times-assuming perfect math play-you’d have $31 in your pocket. You would have lost $5. That’s each and every cycle.

I never make this bet, but it’s okay once in a blue moon if you just want to spice things up. Just realize that there’s a serious house advantage with this wager.

Aces

Just like with the 12, you can also make a one-roll wager on the Aces (2). It pays 30 for one as well and it’s the same deal-a bad wager.

I once watched someone walk up to a table, play very little and walk away with a lot of winnings. Just how did this happen? I’ll tell you.

One thing that kills a lot of Craps players is they think they need to have action all over the table all the time. There’s nothing worse than having just a Pass Line wager and watching the shooter throw number after number. And that’s what makes players bet more after the fact.

But, what if you could have minimal action, minimal risk and some upside? That’s what this one roll Craps system is all about. It’s kind of funny, because the probability of you “being caught” is minimal and you don’t need many “hits” to get ahead even if you get caught.

The basis of the system revolves around the point numbers-4,5,6,8,9 and 10. Okay, refresher course time. Since where going to talk about the $10 wager level, let’s first go over what a $10 wager on each of these numbers pays out.

4 and 10: $10 pays $20 (If bought)
5 and 9: $10 pays $14
6 and 8: $12 pays $14 (You don’t place a $10 wager on these numbers)

Okay, let’s get rolling. Keeping with our $10 theme, you’re going to place $10 on each number-except the 6 and 8, which is $12 each. This is known as $64 across in Craps lingo. If you’re playing in the real world, you could just say “$64 across” and the dealer will set up the cheques as I’ve laid out.

Now, here’s the key. We don’t want to keep our bets out there. All you’re playing for is the very next roll. Once it happens, you take your wager down. If a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 is rolled, you make money. If a 2,3, 11 or 12 is rolled, nothing happens. And if a 7 is rolled, you lose. Not bad odds really.

Technically, you could do this system at any time. Most people will do it after the point is established-so once per point. I recommend waiting 1-2 rolls after the point. I do this because I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people throw a 7 one roll after the point was established.

Here’s something to ponder. When you get a “hit,” you win $14 - $20. You’re risking $64. As long as you get five hits per one lose-only a 7 kills you-then you make money! If you catch three 4’s and/or 10’s, you’re at $60 already.

The system can be a tad boring for the hardcore Craps player, but watching your chip rack fill up should help some.

Ah, so you’re interested in a craps system that can’t lose? Well, there is no such system, but today I’ll share with you a craps system that’s pretty darn close. In fact, there’s only one roll where you “could” lose. After that it’s money in the bank.

Warning: If you like high-paced action and make you sweat types of wagers, this isn’t for you. To make a system for playing craps very safe, we have to get very conservative. Still interested? Okay, let’s go.

I’d recommend playing this system with larger units. Playing $5 or $10 units isn’t going to accomplish much of anything. It’s a decent way to get used to the system, but after that, step it up some. You’ll see why soon enough.

This craps system is so easy that your grandmother could do it in her sleep. The system starts on the come out roll. Don’t know what this is? Look it up. We need to get moving here.

Okay, on the come out roll make a wager on the Don’t Pass Line. For demonstration’s sake, let’s imagine that you just put $30 down on the Don’t Pass Line. Now it’s time to sit and wait. The come out roll-before a point is established-is the only time you can lose. Once the point is established, you can’t lose and you’ll see why in a second.

Since we have a Don’t Pass Line wager, we’ll lose if a 7 or 11 is rolled. But we’ll win with a 2 or 3-12 is barred.

Let’s imagine that the next roll is a 4. The point is now 4. Your next, and last, move is to place the point. Again, if you don’t know what this means, check out any Craps 101 guide. You need to place the point for the exact amount of your Don’t Pass Line wager.

Let’s review. You now have a Don’t Pass Line wager for $30 and a place bet on the 4 for $30.

Possible outcomes include:

A 7 is rolled. If this happens, you lose your place bet, but win your Don’t Pass Line bet. Thus, you break even.

The point is made. If the point is made, you lose your Don’t Pass Line wager, but you win your place bet and you win it-key phrase here-with odds. So, that $30 bet on the 4 just paid $90 total. Deduct your $30 loss on the Don’t Pass Line and you’ve just made $60.

The historian may have a little trouble clearly defining the history of Craps. In some circles, Craps has a debatable history. I found it fairly challenging to trace the game of Craps back to one single origin.

If popularity is to rule the day, then we should go with a widely accepted origin. It’s largely accepted that Craps evolved from an old game called Hazard, which was allegedly created by Bernard de Mandeville.

While his name might sound French, Hazard didn’t come into being in France or even Europe. Nope. Hazard was forged right in the USA. The time was 1813 and the place was none other than party town New Orleans-figures right? As the legend goes, Hazard grew in popularity.

And here’s something to completely throw you. Many found Hazard to be too complicated, so they simplified it. The new name? Craps. Many people today think Craps is extremely complicated. Can you imagine what Hazard must be like? The tables in Vegas would be barren-only a couple rocket scientists here and there. Come on baby, daddy needs a new pocket protector.

In the glory years, Craps was part of American culture. It was played in casinos and on many American streets. It was a game that was at least known about by most of society. And then the fall came. Some believe that gamblers just don’t want to think much. They want to put their money down and have a set path with limited choices. The popularity decline of Craps over the past 20 years would seem to support this theory.

Craps’ decline helped give rise to other games-like Blackjack. In the early 1990s, Las Vegas casinos experimented with a simpler version of Craps. Many of the decisions were taken out and it was more of a carnival came. There was one dealer-think Blackjack table here. You’d make a bet and throw the dice. It failed.

Real Craps players weren’t interested in the novelty game and non-Craps players just didn’t give a, well, crap. The casinos saw that there wasn’t any real money in the game and ditched it.

I think the game failed, because of one critical issue-community. Most real world Craps players play the game, because of the atmosphere. They want to be where the action is. Also, they want others to throw the dice to mix things up. There’s nothing better than a full table of happy Craps players. No matter where you are in the casino, you’ll hear the shouts.

Craps also has an interesting twist. An empty table is hard to fill. Craps players go where other Craps players are. Take a look at any other game, like Blackjack. An empty table can be a welcomed sight. There’s no other game as passionate as Craps.