While a land-based casino has an atmosphere all of its own, charged with excitement and the thrill of trying one’s luck, it can also be a very intimidating environment to newcomers. The game of craps, for example, can be both exciting and rewarding, but with more than 40 different betting options available, a beginner trying to learn the basics may be easily daunted by a noisy, busy craps table in the real world.
Luckily, there are now scores of online and mobile casinos catering to keen casino games fans in their own homes, or even via their smart phones while out and about. Online craps is available in these operations, as well as in all the free casinos online, where play is for credits only. Free online craps options give players a perfect place to learn the game at their own pace, without feeling they are holding up other players as they figure out the intricacies of the betting alternatives.
Online Craps Basics
The origin of craps is lost in the mists of time. However, humans have played dice games involving specified lucky numbers since dice were invented, so some form of craps probably predates recorded history. Craps in its present form is certainly similar to a medieval English game called Hazard, and a French game of about the same period called Crabes. Although there are at least 40 ways a player can bet on online craps, the simplest bets to place are the passline/don’t passline bets, which pay even money if they win.
The shooter is the player rolling the dice, and the shooter’s first roll is the “come out roll”. Passline bets must be placed before the come out roll, and if the shooter’s first two dice total 7 or 11 (covered by 8 of the 36 possible combinations, so 2 chances in 9), the passline bet wins an amount equal to the wager. However, if the come out roll produces a 2, 3 or 12 (6 possible combinations; a 1 in 6 chance), the shooter has rolled “craps”, and all the passline bets lose.
Setting a Point
When a come out roll in online craps produces a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, the most likely result, play gets slightly more complicated. The dice total is now set as the shooter’s “point”, and the shooter must keep rolling, hoping to roll the point again before they roll a 7. If the shooter does manage to hit the point again, the passline bets win; if a 7 is rolled first, they lose.
The don’t passline bet works on the same principles in reverse. If the roll results in a 2, 3 or 12, don’t passline bets win even money, or double that if it is the come out roll. A 7 or 11 results in a don’t passline bet losing. If a point is set, and the shooter rolls a 7 before hitting the point again, the don’t passline bet wins. Simply by betting on pass or don’t pass, players can enjoy the tension of online craps along with the shooter, and still stand to win even money. With practice and study, they will be able to master the better-paying bets and understand the fuller possibilities of online craps.