The player who's current go it is, is called the shooter. The shooter wins if he rolls a 7 or 11 and this is entitled 'Natural' and he loses if he rolls a 2, 3 or a 12. This is known as 'craps' and it is where the name gets its name from. Rolling any of the remaining numbers (4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10) is known as the 'point'. If the shooter achieves point on his first roll, he must roll again, if he achieves point again, then rolls again and rolls a 7 then he wins. If a 7 is rolled after the first point then the shooter loses and the dice are passed on to the next person. The next person will then become the shooter.

In this system, you raise your bet one unit if you lose and lower it one unit if you win, which means your winning bets will be higher than your losing bets. It would look like this in practice: 1, lose and go to 2, lose and go to 3, win and drop to 2, lose and go to 3, lose again, bet 4, win, bet 3 ad infinitum. It looks attractive, but the end result is the same: you will eventually lose your money. A ten loss series would have you down 55 units and you would have a helluva time getting out of that hole.

Basic Rules of Play The dice are tossed from one end of the craps table to the other making sure that both dice bounce off of the back wall of the table. Moving in a clockwise direction, players take turns rolling the dice. The Shooter's first role is called the "Come Out" role. This Shooter continues to role as long as he or she makes winning roles. The "Come Out" role is very important in craps in that it establishes the Shooter's "Point." "The Point" is the number that the Shooter must role again before he or she roles a 7. A 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 establishes the point. Rolling a 7, 11, 2, 3 or 12 on the "Come Out" role results in the dice being passed to the next Shooter. The Puck - This two-sided disc indicates whether or not a game is in progress and if a "Point" has been established. The puck displays "OFF" and remains on the "Don't Come Bar" until a "Point" has been established by the shooter. The dealer then turns the puck to the "ON" side and moves it to the numbered location on the craps table to denote the "Point" number for this shooter. Betting On Craps Pass Line Bet - A simple and basic even money bet. You are betting that the first role of the dice will add up to 7 or 11. On this bet, a 2, 3, or 12 loses the bet. Any other number establishes the "Point." The "Point" number has to be rolled again before a 7 comes up to win, otherwise, the bet is lost.

This system is designed to win one unit per series. Flat bet until you lose. Then continue to flat bet until a win. At that point, raise your bet one unit and bet at that level until you have recouped your loss plus one unit. It might go like this: 1-L. 1-L, 1-W, 2-W. Thus, you have won one unit from your initial two unit loss and your series is over. This system looks good until you run into a spotty streak followed by a long losing streak. All of a sudden, you have a lot of money on the table and its going to take a long winning streak to get it back.

The six and eight can each be made five ways. So if you are up on the don't six, you have six ways to win (on the number seven) and five ways to lose. When the bet is $10 you would win $60, lose $50, and be ahead by $10 after the 11 decisions (on average) If you see a don't player about to take his bet down just say to the fellow: "Don't! Here's 10 bucks, you're even!" He'll take the $10 because that's what his bet is.

The progress of a game of Craps is marked with a plastic "puck", which is black on one side (OFF) and white on the other (ON) The first roll of the dice in a round of Craps is called the come-out roll. The puck is turned black side up (OFF) during the come-out roll. The basic opening bet in Craps, placed just before the come-out roll, is called a Pass Line bet. The Pass Line bet wins immediately if the come-out roll is 7 or 11 (natural), and loses when the come-out roll is "Craps" (2, 3, or 12) If a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 is rolled on the come-out roll, that number becomes the point. The puck is placed on the Craps layout over the box displaying the numbered rolled as the point with the white side up (ON) The shooter now keeps rolling the dice until either the point is repeated or a 7 is rolled to end the round. If the point repeats first, the Pass Line bet wins. If a 7 is rolled first (seven out), the pass line bet loses.

Pass Line A pass line bet is a bet placed before the come out roll (i.e. the first roll of the dice in a new craps round) A wager on the pass line wins immediately if the come out roll is 7 or 11 (naturals), and loses if the come out roll is 2, 3, or 12 (craps numbers) If any other number (4,5, 6, 8, 9, or 10) is rolled, that number becomes "the point." If the shooter rolls the point again before rolling a 7, your pass line bet wins. If the shooter rolls a 7 before rolling the point again, your pass line bet loses. Don't Pass Line A don't pass line bet is essentially the reverse of a pass line bet, and is also placed before the come out roll. If the shooter rolls 3 or 12 on the come out roll, a don't pass line bet wins immediately. If, however, the come out roll is 7 or 11, don't pass line bets lose. If the come out roll is 2, a don't pass line bet is returned to the player in a push. If the come out roll is 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, that number becomes the point. Once the point has been established, don't pass line bets win if the shooter rolls a 7 before rolling the point again. If the shooter rolls the point again before rolling a 7, don't pass line bets lose. Come A come bet is placed before any roll of the dice, once a point has been established by the come out roll. Come bets win immediately if the shooter's next roll is 7 or 11, and lose if the roll is 2, 3, or 12. If the shooter rolls 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, that number becomes "the come point." If the shooter rolls the come point again before rolling a 7, the come bet wins. Don't Come A don't come bet is essentially the opposite of a come bet. Don't come bets win immediately when the shooter's next roll is 3 or 12, and lose if the roll is 7 or 11. If the shooter rolls a 2, the bet will be returned to the player in a push. After the come point is established, don't come bets win if 7 is rolled and lose if the come point is rolled. Odds An odds bet is a "back up" bet on an original pass line, don't pass line, come, or don't come bet. Gold Club allows odds bets of three times your original bets. Field A field bet is a bet that the next roll of the dice will be either 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12. Big Six and Big Eight A big six bet is a bet that 6 will be rolled before 7. Likewise, a big eight bet is a bet that 8 will be rolled before 7. Place Win A place win bet is a bet that either 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 will be rolled before a seven. Place Lose A place lose bet is a bet that 7 will be rolled before either 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10. Buy A buy bet is a bet that either 4, 6, 8, 9, or 10 will be rolled before 7. A vigorish (vig.) of 5% is charged when placing the buy bet. Lay A lay bet is a bet that 7 will be rolled before 4, 6, 8, 9, or 10. A 5% vig. is charged when placing the lay bet. Any 7 An "any 7" bet is a bet that the next roll of the dice will be 7. Any 11 An "any 11" bet is a bet that the next roll of the dice will be 11. Any Craps An "any craps" bet is a bet that the next roll of the dice will be 2, 3, or 12. Horn A horn bet is a bet that the next roll of the dice will be either 2, 3, 11, or 12. Hardway A hardway bet is a bet that the shooter will roll either a 4, 6, 8, or 10 as doubles (2+2, 3+3, 4+4, or 5+5) before rolling a 7. Rolling a number by doubles is said to be rolling the number "the hard way."