So craps gurus say that even when blindfolded, you can find the craps table in a crowded casino, because it is sure to be the loudest spot when the dice are hot. That’s all fine and dandy, but if you don’t know what you’re doing, it doesn’t really matter what temperature the dice may be. When walking up to the craps table for the first time, it can be extremely intimidating; after your head stops spinning, you’re gonna want to catch on to the lingo in order to save yourself from looking like an amateur and to prevent you from losing big dolla dolla bills ya’ll, because in a fast-paced game like craps, the money will go fast… really fast.
We took it upon ourselves to learn a little craps while up in Black Hawk, so just roll with it.
When you first walk up to the table, you’ll notice that it is the same on both ends—don’t let this scare you away. In the center, there is going to be a boxman and a stickman. The boxman supervises the game and collects cash from the dealers, while the stickman controls the dice and the tempo of the game. There are going to be two dealers, one on each side of the table, taking bets, paying off winners, and collecting losing bets. The players involved in the game encircle the circumference of the table, and if the dice are hot, they are usually jammed in there pretty tight.
When you are placing a bet in craps, you are basically betting on how lucky the shooter is going to be, and you are merely along for the ride. Contrary to other games, craps players are actually working together against the house, because if the shooter is doing well, the whole table is doing well. This is exactly why it tends to look like all the players at a craps table look like life-long friends. Don’t let this fool you-- this camaraderie may be short-lived, because if the shooter starts rolling poorly, the vibe at the table will make a 180.
The most common bet in craps is the pass-line bet:
• The chips are placed on the area of the layout marked "Pass Line"
• The Pass Line bet is a series bet, meaning that the person shooting the dice (a.k.a. "the shooter") may have to roll the dice multiple times before you win or lose.
• The first roll in a series is called the “come-out roll” and it is different from the rest of the rolls in the series.
There are dozens of bets that can be made in a craps game, but a player only has seconds to decide what bet that’s going to be. Understanding the lingo in a craps game is one of the most essential parts of the game, so here’s a little taste of what you can expect to hear, and how to translate…
Craps: 2, 3, or 12
Yo, or Yo-leven: 11
C and E Craps: 11
Snake Eyes: Two 1s
Boxcars: Two 6s. Though the public is familiar with both snake eyes and boxcars, most stickmen don't use them very often. The more common calls would be "Two, craps," or "12, craps."
Little Joe, or Little Joe from Kokomo: 4, particularly rolled as a 1 and a 3
Jimmy Hicks: The number 6
Skate and Donate: 8
Skinny Dugan: A loser 7
Center Field: 9, because it's in the middle of the seven numbers on the field bet
Puppy Paws: Two 5s -- though the more common call is simply "Hard 10," or "10, the hard way"
Natural Winner: 7 or 11 on the come-out roll
Hopefully this can steer you in the right direction, but there is so much to learn about craps, and the best way to learn is actually playing the odds at the table. Now that craps tables are legal in Blackhawk, head up there and get a feel for the game, and when you feel confident enough...bring your “Denver-ized” winning streak to play with the big boys in Vegas.
