Question of the Day - 27 June 2022

The craps table on the Wizard of Odds site is excellent. Play for free until you figure out where to click to make the bet you want, including taking odds on Pass or Don't Pass

Playing online, or on those bubble craps machines, won’t help you learn the lingo.

And another big thing that I’ve never seen anybody teach even at those free classes in casinos, is the relationship between where you stand, and where your chips go when the dealer moves them to the appropriate box.

Basically, four player positions at the front of the table corresponds to four stacks of chips in the front of every one of those boxes. Similarly, the four players along the side, if you can imagine them them rotating around to the back of the table, that corresponds to the four positions at the back of every box.

At a slow craps table, the Standing Dealers are usually very accommodating in answering questions. That's a good place to start Craps 101. Dave Miller is correct, too.  When I started at first to play, where the bets went always confused me.

I would add that when you are ready to move to the table game, feel free to ask the dealers questions (when they are not busy with someone else's bet).  They are usually more than happy to help. You can ask them how to place an odds bet, what the minimum is, and can even ask them to place your bet for you if you are unsure.  Setting up on the ends next to the dealers on a less busy table makes asking questions easier (although good luck finding a quiet table with a low minimum).

Once you get the hang of it, I suggest always playing at a busy table.  It is more fun and the betting pace is slower, meaning you will lose less per hour.

Many casinos have free craps lessons mid-morning like at 10am. They even give you $20 or more in special promo craps chips to use after the class is over. Look for a sign on an empty craps table about the morning classes or ask the pit supervisor. The class covers the basics to help get you started, they know craps can be intimidating to novices. But after you've played a little you find out it's an exciting game and if you stick to the basic bets while learning it's not hard. Many people find that making a passline bet, then place bet the 6 and 8 are a good way to get started. Craps is actually one of the lowest casino edge games, as long as you stick to the basic bets.

my friend and i learned how to play at the IP, which gave free lessons. we even got a "graduation certificate" when it was done. i also remember taking lesson at stardust with fake chips, and when it was over they opened it at low [$2!] minimum for those who wanted to play "for real".

don't some casinos still offer those lessons?

Instead of actually standing at a craps table and betting $10 on the pass line, simply find a scenic spot at the edge of a cliff, and toss fourteen cents into the abyss. Do this over and over until you're tired of it or you run out of money. You've just learned how to play craps!

If you want to better simulate the action-packed casino environment, have a drunken friend stand next to you and yell incoherently. It'll be even more realistic if he smokes.

Learn what is and isn't a comeout roll, a pass line bet with odds, the payouts, and how they are related.  That's it.  *ALL* of that stuff in the middle (hardways, any 7, any craps, C&E, Horn, everything you cannot reach with your arms) have a high house edge and should be avoided

Best way to learn is jump in a time capsule back to 1990 and go DT for $.25 craps.   Spent hours at the Las Vegas Club with a table full of friends learning, playing, laughing. Not sure how anyone can learn now when all it takes is a couple rolls at a $10-$25 table to blow out your bankroll in a matter of minutes.  Damn fun game though. 

I think one of the most important lessons to learn about craps is when you can take your bet(s) down.

In the age of the internet, why would someone ask this question hefe?

Here's the link. This simulation has odds.

https://wizardofodds.com/play/craps/v2/

Kevin, your cynical humor never disappoints! Thanks for your contributions. However, why pick on craps, what casino game isn't a "scenic cliff"?

Casinos used to offer craps lessons during slow times usually in the morning but that doesn't seem so common any longer.  I suggest, for learning craps in person, going to Casino Quest at the Fashion Show Mall on the strip.  For $25 an hour experienced dealers will teach you all of the basics and there will likely be other new players so it can be fun to socialize.  Casino Quest is operated by David Knoll and Alex Kim. Both are very knowledgeable and friendly.  Practicing online is great but a live game at a casino can be intimidating to new players.  This is a great way to get your feet wet.

I have been known to place a bet at craps to take advantage of temporarily favorable odds with a coupon or during a "promotion"; but both of these are rare in modern times. 
The quote from Nick the Greek is great. Here's another quote of interest from the "Mad Genius of Poker," Mike Caro [1]:

"There are many bets on a craps layout, but none of them favors the player."

OTOH, for anyone curious about the mechanics and etiquette of the game, there are two books that cover all the details [2, 3]. Both are quite old, but still accurate; and still available--if not exactly cheap--online.  

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Caro
2. Ortiz, Darwin: "Darwin Ortiz on Casino Gambling." New York, Carol Publishing Group (Lyle Stuart), 1986
3. Winkless, Nelson B. "The Gambling Times Guide to Craps." Secaucus, NJ: Carol Publishing Group (Lyle Stuart), 1995

Pretty much every strip casino (and I assume downtown, too) used to offer free craps lessons. What is the most likely outcome of these lessons? More casino customers willing to play another negative expectation game. Yet even that isn’t enough to keep the bean counters from axing this service

Bob Stupack wrote about players he referred to as "chargers". These were the only players that made him sweat. They would let their winnings 'ride'. If they caught a random walk (winning streak), while doing this, they could leave as winners - for awhile.

If you have the opportunity, when all the tables are not super crowded, look at the chip rails of each table.  If the rails have few chips, then the table is probable running cold.  If the rails have lots of chips and there is an empty spot, grab it!

Come on man, dice have no memory.  "Hot" tables can turn cold instantly and vice versa.  

I learned by listening and watching rather than plunging in (what a ridiculous idea!).  This was around 1981, and I was in LV for the first time as an adult.  It was a slow weekday afternoon, and I was trying to figure out the game on my own, NOT betting.  I don't remember which casino it was exactly, except that it was on the west side of the Strip and the tables were close to the street, could have been the Stardust, Frontier, or Castaways (all RIP).

Two old guys saw me watching, and one asked, "Do you know what's going on?", and unlike today's cocksure, throw-my-money-away types, I said, "Heck, no."  They took me under their wing and explained the various bets, how they work, what they pay, "forget the middle".  They didn't have to do it, but I appreciate that they did.  They probably saved me thousands in the long run.

Now I'm sometimes that old guy, ticking off the pit critters by telling people to not bet until they know what they're betting on. 

The hard-ways for example are useful to bet under the right circumstances.  I mainly play tournament craps, as a Don't better.  The Hard-ways including Any Seven, Snake Eyes & Boxcars are useful as a hedge bet.  For Example, if if the point is a four, if a Don't Better takes "Hard 4 hard-way" there is only one roll that they can loose: that being roll 3-1.  The don't side has the advantage of removing all bets, at any time.  This is because, from the moment the point is established, the odds are in your/the house's favor.  There is a reason why Boxmen cheer on the happless Pass Line Betters/shooters.  They are the fools, while we the Don'ts are taking the near true house odds for ourselves!

Just to extend the commentary from Nick "the Greek",  the difference between playing (1) don't-pass / lay odds, and (2) pass / take odds,    is statistically immaterial.  So for new players I always recommend starring with pass / take odds so that you don't piss off too many rollers.  :-)   If you do go the other way, or the "dark side" as I call it, make sure you do "golf-claps" to yourself when you win because it means most of the rest of the table is losing.  

I played this app, when I bet the don't pass and laid the 4&10 on the comeout, it rolled a"11" 4 strait times in a row, I deleted the app