This week, I finally rolled the dice.
Like roulette, craps is a casino game I’ve always wanted to try. But, after discovering how very uninterested I am in playing online roulette and live roulette, I was turned off from the idea. I figured, if I found digital roulette that boring, online craps likely wouldn’t be any better.
Still, I wanted to give it a fair shot and chose to wait, steering clear from table games for several months until my interest returned. Finally, it did. This week’s post is all about my experiences playing online craps and live craps, including the basic rules I learned and my opinion on whether I’d play again.
With that said, the opinions I provide aside, if you’re new to craps, this post covers the essentials on how to get started.
My Online Craps Experience
Before I get into the rules and my experiences, in case you don’t know anything about craps, here’s the gist.
What is craps?
Craps is a popular dice game that has been around for hundreds of years. Many believe its roots have stemmed from an Arabic dice game called “Al Dar” (meaning “Dice”). During the 12th century crusades, a version of the game was played called “Hazarth”. Later, during the 17th century, when the game found its way into France, it became known as “Hazard”.
How did it go from Hazard to Craps? That was my question, too. Apparently, the name “Craps” is thought to have come from the French word “crapaud”, which means toad. Due to the game needing little equipment, it became popular for people to play it on the streets in France. Since players were hunched over the dice on sidewalks and in alleyways, they looked like toads (crapauds), with the game name eventually morphing into craps.
How does it work?
Craps is played with two dice, a table, and up to 20 players (when in a land-based casino setting). Using chips to represent their real-money bets, players place bets on the table. The goal of the game is to correctly guess what dice values will result from the shooter’s roll. In a land-based casino, each player at the table takes a turn being the shooter (the person who rolls the dice).
Online craps plays out the same way as it does in a brick-and-mortar casino. The main differences being that it’s only you and a computer dealer, outcomes are controlled by random number generator (RNG) software, and you click a button to roll the dice. There is also live craps online, which is slightly different than traditional online craps, but I’ll explain more about that experience later.
Basic craps rules
Before I play any game for the first time, I learn the rules. This goes double for any type of casino game where I know there are different types of bets and different odds associated with those bets.
When it comes to craps, it’s all about understanding what bets you can make, when you can make them, and how they work. A first glance at a craps table might have you thinking the game is highly complex (I certainly thought so!). However, I was surprised to find that the rules are fairly easy to understand and learn.
Here’s a run down of the basic craps rules:
🎲Pass Line – This is a bet placed prior to the shooter’s first roll of the dice, known as the “Come Out Roll”. You are betting that the dice will result in a 7 or 11. You immediately win if it does. If a 2, 3 or 12 results from the roll, this is known as “craps”, and you automatically lose your bet. If any other number is rolled, it becomes the “point”. Once a point number is established, this point number must roll again before a 7 is rolled for the pass line bet to win.
💰Pass Line Payout Odds – 2:1
🎲Don’t Pass Line – This is a bet placed before the come out roll. It is the opposite of the pass line. You lose if the come out roll is a 7 or 11, but win if it’s a 2 or 3. If a 12 is rolled, it’s a tie. If a point is established, you lose if the point is rolled. You win if a 7 results before the point.
💰Don’t Pass Line Payout Odds – 2:1
🎲Come Bets – These bets are made after the first roll if a shooter has established a point. You win on a 7 or 11 and lose on a 2, 3, or 12. All other numbers are your “come point” and must be rolled again before a 7 rolls, to win.
💰Pass Line/Come Bet/Buy Bets Payout Odds (4 or 10 – 2:1), (5 or 9 – 3:2), (6 or 8 – 5:6)
🎲Don’t Come Bet – These are also made only after the come out roll following the shooter making a point. It’s the opposite of the come bet. So, you win if 2 or 3 roll (and tie with 12) and lose if a 7 or 11 is rolled. Any other number rolled is your “come point”. If this point is rolled before a 7 you lose. If a 7 results first, you win.
💰Don’t Pass/Don’t Come/Lay Bets Payout Odds (4 or 10 – 2:1), (5 or 9 – 3:2), (6 or 8 – 5:6)
🎲Place Bets – Once a point has been made, you can make a “place bet” on numbers 4, 5, 6, 8 9, and 10. If any of these numbers are rolled before a 7, you win. If a 7 is rolled first, you lose.
💰Place Bets Payout Odds (4 or 10 – 9:5), (5 or 9 – 7:5), (6 or 8 – 7:6)
🎲Field Bets – If you place a field bet, and any of the numbers in the field box (2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12) come out in one roll, you win. You lose on all other numbers.
💰Field Bets Payout Odds (3, 4, 9, 10, or 11 – 1:1), (2 or 12 – 2:1)
🎲Proposition Bets – These bets are one-roll bets where you bet that on the very next roll of the dice any of these numbers – 2, 3, 7, 11, and 12 – will come up. You win if they do and lose if they don’t.
💰Proposition Bets Payout Odds (7 – 5:1), (Craps 2, 3, or 12 – 8:1), (2 or 12 – 31:1), (3 or 11 – 16:1).
🎲Hardways Bets – This is not a one-roll bet. Instead, you are betting that the shooter will roll a pair. You win if a pair is rolled. You will lose if a 7 is rolled or if the number is rolled the “easy way”. For instance, you bet a hard 10 and the dice rolls 5,5 you win, but if the dice rolls 6,4 you lose.
💰Hardways Bets Payout Odds (6 or 8 – 9:1), (4 or 10 – 7:1)
If you still feel a bit confused about how craps works after reading the rules, you might find watching the rules in action to be helpful. I definitely needed more than words to help me get a grasp on the game before I played online craps. I looked at a couple of videos on YouTube and found this one from Casino Matchmaker* to be effective at teaching me the basics of how the game and the main bets work.
Note: Before playing any online craps game, it’s a good idea to have a look at the rules specifically associated with that game. While they will likely be similar (if not the same) to the ones I’ve mentioned above, there could be differences, particularly for payout on odds. Aside from looking at the rules, it’s also a good idea to see what the game’s bet range is as well as its RTP. On average, online craps RTP is between 98.5% – 99.5%.
Playing free craps
I wanted to play a free demo of the game before playing online craps for real money. There was no option to do so at PlayOJO* (where I play). The only craps game available there is Live Craps from Evolution*.
Since that’s the case, I did a bit of research and discovered that I could demo a Craps game from Play’n GO*. If you’d like to demo it free as well, you can here.
When I loaded the game, I was given the option to pick from three themes, Vintage, Classic, or Modern. I checked them all out and learned that regardless of the theme you pick, gameplay remains the same. It’s just the table and dealer that look different. Personally, I liked the Classic theme the best.
Prior to the game starting, I read/listened to the quick rundown of how to play (which you can view or skip). I also learned that I could view basic gameplay rules at any time by clicking the “i” button to the right of the chips. There’s also more detailed info on the game and rules, which can be accessed by clicking the “?” icon at the bottom left of the game screen. Also, I kept the sound on (you can shut it off or change the dealer voice at any time) and every once in a while (especially if I took longer than normal to make my bet) the dealer would provide a helpful hint.
Once I knew the rules, I found the game easy to play and tried a variety of craps bets to get a feel for how the game works. In the demo, the min bet value is $0.50 and the max is $100. I stuck to $0.50 and $1.00 bets, because even in free games, I like to stick to the bets that I would most likely make if I were playing with real money.
Even though it was only a game demo, I really enjoyed playing online craps. It was far more engaging than I thought it would be and was the perfect drive for me to want to try the real thing.
Playing live craps for real money
When I was ready to play online craps for real money (which honestly wasn’t too long after I demoed the game) I played Live Craps at PlayOJO.
As I previously mentioned, the live game I played is powered by Evolution. As far as I know, Evolution is the only live casino games software provider that offers live dealer craps. At the very least, it’s the only one I can play in Ontario. Evolution offers two versions of live craps:
- First Person Craps – A mix of RNG and live casino elements.
- Live Craps – A traditional live gaming environment complete with a real-time dealer in a live studio and with live chat.
Live Craps is the only version PlayOJO offers. I’m okay with that, because it sounds like the better version of the two anyhow.
Once I loaded the game, I was given the option of playing in “Easy Mode” or “Full Mode”. Essentially, they are two different interfaces. Easy Mode is good for beginners because it’s a smaller betting grid with fewer bet spots. The available bets are those that are the easiest to understand (e.g., Field and Proposition bets).
I started with Easy Mode but changed to Full Mode not long after. You can easily switch between the two modes at anytime within the game. I made the switch because after playing the free craps demo, I’d become familiar with the full betting board and found the Easy Mode grid confusing.
Evolution’s Live Craps studio is pretty cool. It’s been made to look like a 1920’s speakeasy. It features a single dealer, a traditional craps table, and a pair of red dice that are tossed onto the table by a machine. The bet range is as low as $0.50 and as high as $5,000, perfect for low budget players like me and high rollers. I stuck mostly to $0.50 bets and the occasional $1.00 bet. I think the most I won in a single round was $3.00. I didn’t play for long, and I also didn’t go too crazy with the bets. I mostly stuck to betting the Pass Line and Field Bets.
As is the case with most live casino games, you can just watch the game play out, if you don’t feel like taking part in all rounds. You can also join the chat and chat with the dealer. Other features of Evolution’s Live Craps include:
- Tutorial – There’s an interactive built-in tutorial you can view at any time if you need help on how to play and how the different bets work.
- My Numbers – This feature shows the number that’s needed to win together with possible payouts, this can make the active game easier to follow.
- Dynamic Statistics – There are dynamic statistics boards on the wall behind the dealer that continually update the popular numbers and popular bets based on the actions players take. Basically, it lets you see how other players are betting in real time.
I didn’t view the tutorial, and I didn’t pay attention to these other features when I played for the first time. They might be something that’ll be of interest to me when I play again and become more confident and comfortable playing.
All in all, I had a lot of fun playing live craps. It’s easily my favourite live casino gaming experience outside of live game shows like Pragmatic’s Crazy Time and Mega Wheel.
Will I play online craps again?
Absolutely! Unlike online roulette, I do not find online craps boring. Whie I certainly don’t think it comes close to comparing to the excitement of playing it live and in person at a real-world casino, there’s always a lot of action going on to keep the game interesting.
What surprised me the most (and what I liked most) about craps is that it’s highly interactive and engaging. In addition to being able to place bets on the come out roll, if a point is made, you can continue to place bets (and different types of bets) for each roll of the dice. It’s a totally different experience from roulette where you place your bets and then just wait for the ball to land in a pocket on the roulette wheel, before starting again.
As for online or live craps, in terms of which experience I like better. I think live craps is the superior experience. While there is still no shooter, the more real-world atmosphere and the dealer make for better entertainment overall. Plus, if you’re a high roller, this game offers much bigger bets than what’s available in most traditional computer-run craps game.
How about you? Have you played online craps or live craps? Which experience do you prefer? Also, do you have a favourite Craps bet and what do you like most about the game?
Until next time, good luck and have fun.
Mia 👩💻
*I am not affiliated with PlayOJO, Play’n GO, Evolution, or Casino Matchmaker.
**All links and images in this post are for informational purposes only.