Craps for the Beginner

"Craps is one of the most exciting and social casino games in the world today. But the loud crowd and complicated-looking table can sometimes scare beginning players away. Craps, at its core, is actually a simple game. There is only one main bet that players need to learn before heading over to the table or checking out a virtual table online. After this one main wager, the other bets will come in time. Luckily, for the players, this one main bet has better odds than any of the other possible wagers in craps. More money is played at craps today than at any other casino game. The game is also one of the oldest of all the casino games and the only popular dice game at American casinos today. Its popularity isn’t it doubt and after a player learns the one basic bet in the game, its simplicity will not be questioned either. Before starting to play craps, a player needs to learn the basic etiquette and vocabulary of the game. Craps players have a language all their own. The terminology is also rivaled by the etiquette and politeness rules. This game is ancient and many of the players’ superstitions date back to its historic origins. Most players claim that learning the terms and etiquette is actually more complicated than learning the game rules and strategies. There are two rounds in craps. The first round is called the Come Out Round and the second is called the Point. Even though there are two rounds, there is really only one basic bet. The bet is this: the shooter – the person throwing the dice – needs to throw a 7 or 11 in the Come Out Round. These numbers mean an automatic win. A 2, 3, or 12 being rolled means an automatic loss. Any other number: 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 will become the Point and the game moves to the second round. The objective in the Point round is to roll the Point number before rolling a 7. If the shooter rolls a seven before the Point this is an automatic loss and a new game will begin." Basics for craps. I have more coming for the advanced. DL

Craps, terms.

"So you want to play Craps huh? Well, you better know some terminology. In today's article, I'll show you some key Craps terms. There are countless Craps terms out there, but we'll go over just the main and fun ones. Aces: This is a roll of two. When a two is rolled, both dice show one dot, hence the term. 2-Way Eleven: Dealers love this one. When you bet a 2-way eleven, you're making a bet on eleven for you and the dealers. It's a good move to tip the dealers when playing if you're doing well. Any Seven: This is a one-roll wager. Make this bet and if the next roll is a seven, you win. A seven can be rolled: 1-6, 2-5, 3-4, 4-3, 5-1, and 6-1. The bet pays 4:1. The house edge is high on this one since it's a one-roll wager. Of course, you'd think it was a pot of gold when you're standing at an ice-cold table. Big 6: This bet is located in the lower section of the layout. It's called the big 6, because the wager space is a huge 6. It's a gimmick wager though, because it only pays even money. If you were to place the 6, you'd get odds on your payout. This bet stays up until it loses or you take it down. Big 8: It's the same as the Big 6, except it's an 8. You'll win every time an 8 is rolled and lose when a 7 is rolled. It pays even money. Unless you're very lazy, place the 8 instead. Big Red: No, it's not a stick of gum. This is a codeword for making a wager on Any Seven. Bones: Throw them bones. The bones are the dice. Black: This is slang for a $100 cheque-also called a chip by the layman. "Give me a stack of black," would be saying that you want a stack of $100 cheques, which is $2,000-there are 20 cheques/chips in a stack. Boxcars: Keep making this wager and you might be living in a boxcar. This is slang for the number 12-6-6 on the dice. Boxman: This is the guy who is in the suit and sitting down in-between the two dealers on the inside of the Craps table. He's the boss of the table. It's his job to make sure payouts are okay and to watch the game. You'll also see him tracking players for rewards. The Boys: Perhaps a bit sexist in these days since there are more and more female Craps dealers, but this is slang for the dealers at the table. "Here's $20 for the boys," means that you're giving $20 as a tip to the dealers. In the old days, you'd only find male Craps dealers. Buffalo: Okay, it's not an animal. When you make a buffalo wager, you're betting on each of the Hardways and Any Seven. If you want to mix it up, you can make a Buffalo-Yo wager, which is all of the Hardways and a Yo (eleven) bet. Buy: When you place a number, you can buy it. When you buy the number, you're paying a 5% commission for true odds. You'll rarely see the 5,6,8 or 9 bought. It's almost always the 4 and 10. Why? Well, when you buy the 4 and 10 you get 2 for 1 odds rather than 9 for 5. Imagine you bought the 4 for $25. Each time the 4 hits, you would be paid $50. Your commission would be $1. The commission is off the bet not the win. Also, the commission is rounded down, as most Craps tables don't have 25-cent cheques. C and E: This is an extremely common wager on the come out roll. When you make a C and E wager, you're betting on Any Craps and Eleven (Yo). It's a one-roll wager. You can make this bet any time, but most people do it on the come out roll to protect their Pass Line bets. Charting: If you go to the casinos in Downtown Las Vegas, you're likely to see a charter. Charting is when you record the action of a table. Usually this is done on a notepad. Why chart a table? Many people who do it believe there are patterns in the dice-not true. Others do it on a person by person basis, because they believe people have certain patterns. If you play online, you can do this easily and without standing out like you would at a real table. Change Only: IMPORTANT! If you do nothing else, remember this command. When you are at a real Craps table and you throw money down, it plays where it stays unless you say "Change Only." Many unsuspecting people have thrown their money down expecting change only to see it gobbled up after it lost. Now, if you want the money to be a bet, just don't say another word or say "Money Plays." That's the command for letting the money sit and play. The dealer shouldn't touch the money. Cheques: This is the official term for what many call chips. Let's say you have a $100 cheque and you want a stack of $5 cheques, you would put down your cheque in the Come area and say "Cheque Change." That's the dealer's cue that you don't want it to play and that you want smaller cheques/chips. Coloring: There are various terms that involve color. The first is color in, which is said by the dealer to let the boxman know that cheques are coming in. The next is coloring up, which is said to inform the boxman, or whoever, that the cheques are being exchanged. For instance, if you handed in a stack of red ($5 cheques, which is $100 total), the dealer might say color in, then coloring up. Next, he'll say color out and hand you one $100 cheque. Come Bet: To place a Come wager, you place the desired cheque(s) in the Come area, which is that big space right below the numbers. Think of the Come bet as the Pass Line bet. First, you place your wager. Second, a number is rolled. Your wager is moved to that number. Finally, when the number is rolled a second time, your wager is taken down and paid. You can put odds on your wager once it gets placed in a number. When you place a wager in the Come area, it will win instantly if the next roll is a 7 or 11, but it will lose instantly if the number is 2, 3 or 12. The Don't Come Bet is just the opposite. If you bet this, you want to see the shooter throw a 7 before your number. Come out Roll: This is sort of the start of every cycle if you will. The purpose of the come out roll is to establish the point. If the shooter throws a 7 or 11, all Pass Line wagers win and all Don't Pass wagers lose. If the shooter throws a 2, 3, or 12, all Pass Line Wagers Lose. The Don't Pass wagers win on 2 and 3, but push (bar) on 12. Comps: These apply to any game. When you get a comp, you get something for free from the casino. For instance, maybe you're playing Craps and the pit boss decides to comp you lunch. Comps are usually handed out to players who meet certain criteria. It's important to note that there is no way you can get a comp unless you're being tracked. This means you must register for the casino's player card. And when you get change at a table, give them your card to. Comps are also called rewards these days and most casinos have went to a system to reward players automatically. Crap: So, what is a Crap anyway-aside from the obvious? The numbers 2, 3 and 12 are Craps. And if you wager on Any Craps, these are the winning numbers you want to see rolled. When someone throws a 2, 3 or 12 on the first roll, it's called Crapping Out." My appologies again... My definition list ends at "c". So this will have to be updated at a future date! DL

Craps.... The History of.

"The historian may have a little trouble clearly defining the history of Craps. In some circles, Craps has a debatable history. I found it fairly challenging to trace the game of Craps back to one single origin. If popularity is to rule the day, then we should go with a widely accepted origin. It's largely accepted that Craps evolved from an old game called Hazard, which was allegedly created by Bernard de Mandeville. While his name might sound French, Hazard didn't come into being in France or even Europe. Nope. Hazard was forged right in the USA. The time was 1813 and the place was none other than party town New Orleans-figures right? As the legend goes, Hazard grew in popularity. And here's something to completely throw you. Many found Hazard to be too complicated, so they simplified it. The new name? Craps. Many people today think Craps is extremely complicated. Can you imagine what Hazard must be like? The tables in Vegas would be barren-only a couple rocket scientists here and there. Come on baby, daddy needs a new pocket protector. In the glory years, Craps was part of American culture. It was played in casinos and on many American streets. It was a game that was at least known about by most of society. And then the fall came. Some believe that gamblers just don't want to think much. They want to put their money down and have a set path with limited choices. The popularity decline of Craps over the past 20 years would seem to support this theory. Craps' decline helped give rise to other games-like Blackjack. In the early 1990s, Las Vegas casinos experimented with a simpler version of Craps. Many of the decisions were taken out and it was more of a carnival came. There was one dealer-think Blackjack table here. You'd make a bet and throw the dice. It failed. Real Craps players weren't interested in the novelty game and non-Craps players just didn't give a, well, crap. The casinos saw that there wasn't any real money in the game and ditched it. I think the game failed, because of one critical issue-community. Most real world Craps players play the game, because of the atmosphere. They want to be where the action is. Also, they want others to throw the dice to mix things up. There's nothing better than a full table of happy Craps players. No matter where you are in the casino, you'll hear the shouts. Craps also has an interesting twist. An empty table is hard to fill. Craps players go where other Craps players are. Take a look at any other game, like Blackjack. An empty table can be a welcomed sight. There's no other game as passionate as Craps." Gonna be a lot of posts today, my appologies for the 2 weeks down time :) DL

Baccarat

"Baccarat is possibly the easiest game to learn and play. The main object is very simple. The player has to assemble a hand of two or three cards. The value of the hand must get as closer as possible to nine. The perfect baccarat hand is a hand that has the total of nine in the first two cards, without to use a third card. Everyone agrees that baccarat is a game of chance, but like many other games of chance, an experience player can have better chances to win than a novice player. Why is that? Because there are certain things than can influence the outcome of a betting round and experienced player know how to make better decisions that will maximize their chances to win the hand. The luck factor plays the most important roll in the game, but when a player knows his chances, knows what could be the outcome of each of the optional moves- he has better chances to win in the long run. And this is exactly why serious casino players, who search for bigger prizes, invest their time in practicing and reading about baccarat. By doing so, serious players develop their own playing strategy that will allow them to make smarter decisions when they play baccarat. Baccarat, as we wrote before, is a very simple game. All you have to do is to bet on whether you think the banker will beat the player, the player will beat the banker or if the both hands will tie. This leads me to the most important baccarat tip you'll ever receive: Always bet either on the banker or the player. Do not waste your time and money on betting on a tie. The chances are always greater that either the player or the banker will win. Another important tip that I can give to players who want to maximize their winnings (and, obviously, minimize their loss) is to pay more attention to managing their money. Some players use money managing systems like the Martingale system in order to have some sort of a pattern to follow during their game, but you don't have to use a strict system like that. A good way to manage your money is to decide how much you are going to invest in the game and to set a limit. If you'll decide in advance what are your goals and how much you can allow yourself to lose, you'll have more chances to play reasonably and your game will be much more profitable. If you are reading this article, you probably interested in money aspect of casino gambling, but it doesn't say that you cannot enjoy your game while playing it in the best online casinos. The most important tip that I can give you is to pay attention and to manage your money correctly, to use gaming strategy and to use your experience and the advices of other experienced players when you're playing, but more than this, if you're not enjoying the game, maybe it's just not worth it. Make sure that the prime target of your casino time is to provide you with exciting gaming experience, because luck will always come and go, and exciting experiences stay forever in our memories." DL

Free books....

Free books, you have to sign up, but it's not an affiliate link :) Check out the games section for gambling and more. Still working on the website, will keep you posted, but it's taking way more time than I thought it would, my apologies. DL

Part 5 of 5

Great series, I'll be looking for more like it. Suggestions anyone? DL

Part 4 of 5