“So.. how do you play?”

Simply put $10 right here on this area that says PASS LINE. After that, I give you the dice. And throw the dice so that both dice hit the back wall!

“Seems simple enough. Do I win by simply making a 7 or 11 on the first roll? And do I lose on 2, 3, or 12?”

Yes sir! Ready to play?

“Hey.. this is just like playing dice in high school!” **plunks down $10 on pass line**

7 WINNER!

**pumps fist** “NICE! Let’s do it again! Oh .. what’s that C and E stuff?”

C stands for craps. That’s the numbers 2, 3, and 12. E stands for 11. A “C” pays out 7 to 1, and “E” pays out 15 to 1.

“Ooh.. too risky. No thanks. I’ll hold off for now. “

**Sets dice with 5 and 2 facing up.. fires across the entire table (shooting from the end right of stick man)**

That is an 8. 8 is the POINT.

“So.. what do I do now? I’ve never played on a real craps table before.”

Just put $10 behind your pass line bet. That is called an ODDS bet. You get paid $6 for every $5 if you hit the 8.

“Sounds good to me!”
**plunks down $10 behind the PL bet**

(Stick man puts spacing between my PL and odds bet.) We need to separate your bets so we know how much to pay each stack.

“Ah, got it. Let’s do this! Oh wait.. what’s with them numbers on the board?”

Those are called “box numbers.” Depending on which numbers you bet on, you get paid accordingly. 6 and 8 pays you 6:7, 5 and 9 pays you 5:7, and 4/10 pays you 9:5.

“So if I bet on the 6 for $10, how much do I get?”

On 6 and 8, you’ve gotta bet in increments of $6. All other numbers you can bet in increments of $5 once you reach the minimum bet. So, because the table minimum right now is $10, 6 and 8 will cost you $12, the others will cost you $10.

“Thank you. I’ll take a 6. Oh.. what’s up with this field stuff? I’ve never seen this before.”

That is called the field bet. If you get the field, and one of those numbers land, you double your money. If a 2 is rolled, we’ll give you 2 to 1. If a 2 is rolled, we’ll give you 3:1.

“Wow, really? I’ve never heard or seen of these kinda bets before!” **plunks down $10 on the field**

Now keep in mind, that field bet is a one roll bet. If you miss the number, you will lose your bet.

“Oh.. never mind.” **picks up $10 bet on the field**

“Sorry – I gotta ask since I’m the only one on the table and no one is waiting on me to shoot the dice: tell me about the words hardways and horn? “

Hardways is just like it’s shown: If you bet that number, and the dice lands on “doubles” (just like in monopoly), you win that bet. You get 7:1 for 4 and 10, and 9:1 for 6 and 8.

“WHOA. **mind blown** That seems so easy!”

BUT.. let’s say you bet the hard 6 and the 4 and 2 show up on a roll. You lose that hard 6 bet.

**excitement deflates** “I’ll just bet the hardways another day.”

As for the horn, it’s 2, 3, 11, and 12. All horn bets are one time rolls only. It’s win or lose. However, you get 30:1 for 2 and 12, and 15:1 for 3 and 11.

“Awww.. never mind. If the bet stayed on I’d bet it.. but maybe another day. “

Now, remember **as he slides the dice to me**, you need to hit that 8 before you hit the 7. If the 7 comes out, you lose all of your bets on the table.

“You want me to hit an 8 before a 7?! How hard can that be. Gimme the dice!”

And the journey to semi-degeneracy began after 15+ year hiatus from playing craps at school because soon afterwards, I won $2000 on a measly $10 table.. and I hardly understood the concept of pressing my bets. I rolled for 45 mins. The table was electric and a huge crowd started to watch the action.

Tens of thousands of dollars later, ugh. I love the game, but looking back on the losses throughout the years: I definitely could have bought a Porsche 911 with it. (Not sure about the Turbo or any other special edition lol.)

I have to admit: I’m glad I don’t live in Vegas. Too many distractions / temptations in living here. Bored? Go play cheap craps at a local casino. Wife driving you nuts? Crap it up! Or even worse, go find a cute tourist or local to hit on if you feel like your wife doesn’t appreciate the back you break for her.

So on that note, the lure of $1900 of FP has reeled me back in again. $1200 from my “7* Retreat” and an eye-popping “We’re so desperate we’re boosting your $375 FP to $700” offer.

Anyone who has played with me knows that I’m not worthy of these FP offers, but I’m living proof that heavily tipping these dealers does wonders to your perceived average bet size. Or maybe it’s my good looks, charm, and my overly exposed legs. (Bah! One can still dream. Who am I fooling. I can’t even find my chin, dammit.)

So, as usual – if you like craps, pizza, hot women (or even men if I get jealous), follow along! Odds are I’ll throw in some slot pics and do some guest commentary of other VMBers in town.

And yes – I will log the craps meet action at the craps at El Cortez tomorrow. Let’s do this!