Playing at a real table

Chapter 5: The real casino · Lesson 17 of 21 · 6 min read

How to buy in, call bets, shoot, tip and behave at a live craps table.

Real tables move fast, but the rules of the road are simple.

Buying in. Wait until the dice are in the middle, then put your cash on the layout (never in the dealer's hand) and say "change, please". Chips go in the rail in front of you. Keep them there.

Making bets.

• You place your own Pass, Don't Pass, Come, Don't Come, Field and odds behind the line.
• For Place, Buy, Lay, Come odds and the center bets, set chips down in the Come area and tell the dealer (or stickman), for example "$12, place the 6 and 8", "$1 hard 8".
• Call your bets before the stickman sends the dice out. Once the shooter has the dice, keep your hands out of the table: a die hitting a hand starts arguments.
• Make sure your bets are the right size for the payout ($6 units on 6/8, $5 units on 4/5/9/10, even amounts for odds on 5/9).

Shooting. You'll usually need a Pass or Don't Pass bet to shoot. Pick two dice, use one hand, keep them over the table, and throw so both dice hit the back wall. Don't fuss with them for long.

Manners.

• Don't say "seven" out loud at the table. It's a superstition, but a strong one.
• Keep drinks off the rail.
• Don't blame the shooter, or the Don't bettors.
• When you leave, ask to "color up" to bigger chips between rolls.

Tipping ("toking"). Dealers rely on tips. The craps way is to bet for them: "a $1 Yo for the dealers", or a small Pass Line bet "for the boys". Tipping isn't required, but it's customary when you win. If you want your tip to last, a line bet with odds for the dealers costs you far less than a prop bet in expected loss.

Try the same moves on the simulator. You place the odds yourself, and you ask for the rest in the right units.