online craps guide for beginners tips

Online Craps Guide for Beginners: History, Tips, and Strategy

Staff Writer Tips & Tutorials 2,692

When one thinks of casinos, craps tables immediately come to mind. The same goes for craps at internet casinos – online craps rely on luck and skill, making it a perfect choice for every gambler. However, the intricate table layout and a long list of rules often confuse punters. But this online craps guide for beginners that the BestCasinos team compiled is here to help.

We will show you how to play craps for beginners, how to win, and give you top winning tips. You will see the history of the game and learn to navigate the waters of live craps at real money casinos.

A Brief Introduction to Craps Tables

Craps is a dice game worshipped by millions of players at brick-and-mortar casinos. Its popularity drew RNG and live casino software creators to experiment and try to translate it into online terms. However, the transition did not go as smoothly as with other categories – the nature of the game being the principal barrier.

Essentially, playing craps involves a lot of social interaction, so it was difficult to imagine it in online surroundings. Nevertheless, game suppliers found a way to adapt it to RNG formats. Hence, today online craps are a trendy gaming choice for beginner and veteran gamblers online.

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In the past few years, there was a push to bring the dice game into the fold of live dealer gambling. Evolution, currently the leader of live software development, placed the live dealer version under the spotlight with its Live Craps released in 2020. Vivo Gaming, an aspiring fellow provider of live content, made the first-ever live craps table.

Players now have a wide choice of titles to pick from when they decide to play this game. If you like the original, all land-based sites that nurture their reputations have it on offer. If, however, you prefer free online craps, you only need to stop by your favourite freeplay-friendly gambling website and pick a table. We also recommend online craps real money play and giving the live tables a try – it’s a unique experience you won’t find anywhere else.

How to Play Craps

So, you want to join the busy tables but are unsure of the rules? Have no worries; we know the feeling. Craps is one of those games capable of confusing even the most skilled of players. It features an elaborate layout, which is why most beginners struggle to learn the basic rules. Instead, they resort to craps beginner strategy and various tactics aimed at increasing their odds.

Basic Rules

Strategy is important, but a strategic approach won’t help if you are not familiar with the rules.

Here are the primary online craps game rules.

  1. As this is a dice game, every round revolves around dice throwing and betting on possible outcomes.
  2. The round starts with the come-out roll, where the shooter (player throwing dice) throws the dice in a brick-and-mortar casino. In online terms, the round begins with a click on the roll button.
  3. The sum of the two dice dictates the course of the round. Rolling 2, 3, and 12 results in craps – a bad outcome. The round is instantly over, and the shooter loses the round.
  4. Rolling 4,5,6, 8,9, and 10 is good and leads to establishing points. The rolling total becomes the number that the shooter must try to score again to win the round. The shooter throws dice until it hits either the point, which is a winning situation, or the 7 – in which case, he loses the round.
  5. Rolling 7 or 11 is called rolling a natural. Hitting a natural directly leads to a win, and the round ends.

Not that bad, right? These are just the basics of a single round – we haven’t even touched the subject of payouts and wagering options. Before we switch to that section, it would be good to emphasise one thing: during the come-out roll, a 7 is a great outcome – but in the subsequent rolls, a bad thing if you are a player.

Wagering Options & Payouts

The complexity of online craps lies not in dice throwing rules but rather in deciphering its endless betting options. If you are worried about figuring out the appropriate wagering choice, rest assured BestCasinos will help you decipher them all in this online craps guide.

The first thing you need to learn is the Pass/Don’t Pass bets. These two are available on the come-out roll. The Pass Bet includes wagering on the shooter, i.e., that he will win the round by rolling a natural 7 or successfully establishing a point. Don’t Pass is self-explanatory. You essentially wager that the shooter will lose (by rolling 2 or 3). If the punter rolls a 12, it’s a push, so you don’t really won or lose money regardless of the type of bet you’ve placed.

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If the shooter scores a point, you are allowed to place Come/Don’t Come bets. They are essentially the same as Pass/Don’t Pass as you wager that the player will reach the point/ will reach a 7. Don’t Come has a better payout, but it is highly unpopular as you wager against punters playing at your table. In online terms, such matters are trivial as you don’t play in company.

Other allowed bets at online craps tables are:

  • Proposition Bets (Any Seven, Any Craps, Any Deuce, Aces, Boxcars, Horn)
  • Place Bets (Betting on specific numbers between 2 and 12)
  • Field Bets (One-roll bets won if the outcome is anything but 5,6,7, or 8)
  • Big 6/8 (Wagering on 6s and 8s coming before 7s while the shooter is throwing in hopes of reaching the point)

Betting craps for beginners is risky if you are not sure which bet would be the best fit. We recommend trying the Pass/Don’t Pass and Come/Don’t Come wagers to establish the rules and acquire experience.

Differences Between Real Craps and Craps Online

How to play craps for beginners? Is playing craps online the same as playing at brick-and-mortar gambling halls? Can you play craps online for money and for free? More importantly, where can I play craps online?

The team at BestCasinos receives these and similar questions daily. Craps for beginners is not an easy endeavour, but feasible nonetheless. But the first thing you need to figure out is the version you want to play the most. So, let’s see the main differences between the real deal and the online variant.

First, the environment is the main distinction. Real games are played at tables in physical buildings, and you are surrounded by fellow gamblers and the table staff. Craps includes a full cast of employees, often appearing as a group of five members. The personnel at online craps does not exist, as they are all RNG. The only exception is live craps, where tables do involve a host.

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Authentic rounds also feature the shooter role moving from one to the next player. When you play online alone, you don’t choose the roles. Moreover, there is no shooting whatsoever, as a person can’t throw dice across a table in virtual terms. Live dealer tables like Evolution’s Live Craps include a mechanical arm that acts as the shooter (to avoid bias surrounding the croupier throwing the dice).

Wagering options are copy-pasted to the internet world, so everything stays the same in that regard. The aspects that change are the environment, accessibility, and the atmosphere surrounding the table. Moreover, online games are faster and more automated than genuine rounds at land-based sites. Given how you play alone and use a computer to roll the dice, you don’t have to wait on anyone to make a move. Moreover, you can dress any way you like, as your home casino has no dress code like stuffy gambling establishments do.

Craps Strategy for Beginners

You have reached the crucial part of this entire online craps guide for beginners – the online craps beginner’s strategy rulebook! We won’t hassle you with complex tricks and methods but rather show you the easiest tricks to learn the game.

Here are our basic craps strategies for novices.

Keeping the Funds in the Pockets

Learn to keep the money in your pocket, or better yet, learn to leave the table before you lose too much. Keep a close check on your cash balance, and don’t let the game pull you in too much. You should always pay close attention to winning and losing streaks. If you notice you have entered a losing streak, our best advice is to leave the table.

Pass/Come

Wagering on the shooter is the simplest and easiest way to score money. It is also the first thing most punters do when they start playing the game for the first time. The payout is 1:1, with the casino advantage of 1.41% (which is quite low).

Big 6 and Big 8 Winning Strategy

Players also love wagering on the Big 6 and Big 8 wagers. While these have relatively frequent hits, wagering on regular 6 and 8 numbers as Place Bets utilises a 1.52% house edge and 7:6 payout. On the other hand, the Big 6 and Big 8 have a 9% edge – which is significantly higher than the regular wagers – and pay even money. That’s why we recommend wagering on the regulars instead of the big bets.

Betting Against the Player

Betting on the shooter is great – but betting against him brings you even better chances to score. The Come/Pass house edge is 1.41%, while their opposites include a lower house edge of 1.36%. The payout remains the same.

Conclusion

Thanks to this online craps guide, you are now on the path to becoming a pro dice player! Sure, the road is long and twisty, but one thing is certain – online craps is not unbeatable and undecipherable. If anything, once you crack its basic rules, you are bound to fall in love fast.

Our online craps guide is meant for novices who are new to the world of dice, and we hope you found it helpful. If you have questions or wish to share thoughts with us, leave a comment below.

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BestCasinos team consists of online casino experts dedicated to spreading their knowledge and experience to a wider audience, all in effort to help even the most inexperienced players gain their footing in this exciting industry.

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