Shooting Dice

• She Was Arrested for Shooting Dice In 1955, a vice squad raid at a Jazz at the Philharmonic concert in Houston led to the arrest of several performers, including Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie, for gambling in a backstage dressing room.
• Cold dice also known as a cold table; an expression used when players are not hitting the established point and sevening out come out 1. The initial roll of the shooter 2. To roll the dice when no point has been established crap out To roll a 2, 3, or 12 on the come out roll.
• Hand the shooter the dice. The stickman (the person who retrieves the dice using a long, curved stick) offers the shooter a selection of (usually) five dice from which two are chosen. In street craps, usually only the two dice necessary are provided.

• Shooting Dice Rules
• Shooting Dice
• How To Play Craps - Craps Rules Guide For Dummies
• More Shooting Dice Images

The following is a glossary of terms used in the dice game craps. Besides the terms listed here, there are many common and uncommon craps slang terms.^[1][2][3]

A[edit]

Dice are passed to the left. To start a round, the shooter makes one or more 'come-out' rolls. The shooter must shoot toward the farther back wall and is generally required to hit the farther back wall with both dice. After the shooter's turn is over, the dice are passed to the shooter's left so that the next person can have a turn. This person can choose to either take a turn rolling the dice as a shooter or can decline to roll and continue passing the dice to the left. Either way, a new shooter begins a turn, starting over at Step 1.

ace deuce

A roll of 3

B[edit]

Big Red

The number 7 or a bet for any 7 to appear

bones

A slang term for the dice

box numbers

The place numbers (4,5,6,8,9,10)

boxcars

A roll of or bet on 12

C[edit]

center field

Nine, often called Center Field Nine

change only

when a player buys into a game specifically with cash, the 'only' means no bets are being placed at the time of the buy in. Can also be used when a player colours in. (Dealers will say this out loud so that a player can't take a shot and say he wanted a bet on X.)

Cheque change

Breaking down a chip into smaller denomination chips.

colour up

The process of changing denominations of chips to larger denominations

cold dice

also known as a cold table; an expression used when players are not hitting the established point and sevening out

come out

1. The initial roll of the shooter

2. To roll the dice when no point has been established^[4]

crap out

To roll a 2, 3, or 12 on the come out roll. A player betting on the Pass line or Come loses on crap out, but the roll does not lose when a point is established. Don't Pass and Don't Come wins if a 2 or 3 craps is rolled on come out, but ties (pushes) if a 12 is rolled on come out. The shooter may continue rolling after crapping out.

craps

the numbers 2, 3, and/or 12

D[edit]

double pitch

In dice control, when the dice stay on axis which rarely occurs (less than 5% of the rolls), but one turns two faces more than the other. If players set the dice with the same face, such as a hard ways or 3V set, the roll may likely result in a seven.

down

To remove or reduce a bet, players often say 'take it down'

E[edit]

easy way

Rolling an even number with any combination other than doubles. Applies to 4, 6, 8, and 10 only.

even money

Any bet that pays out at 1:1.

F[edit]

fever five

A roll of 5, also called five fever

free odds

Simply known as odds, is the odds which can be taken or laid behind the Pass/Come or Don't Pass/Don't Come. These are paid at true odds.

flea

A player who bets at or near table minimum, normally for extended periods of time.

G[edit]

garden

Slang for the field bet

George

A good tipper

H[edit]

hard way

Rolling a 4, 6, 8, 10 with a pair of the same number

hi-lo

a single roll bet for 2 or 12

hi-lo-yo

a single roll bet for 2, 11, or 12

high

A bet on or roll of 12, also see boxcars

hop

A single roll bet for a specific combination of dice to come out. Pays 15:1 for easy ways and 30:1 for hard ways

horn

A divided bet on the 2, 3, 11, 12

horn high

A horn bet with addition units going to a specific number. For example 'horn high ace deuce' would generally mean a 5 unit bet with 2 units going on the 3.

hot dice

also known as a hot table; an expression used when players are hitting the established points or rolling for long durations without seven outs

I[edit]

inside numbers

betting on the 5, 6, 8, 9

L[edit]

lay

To bet on a seven to come before a specific point number. Lays are paid at true odds with commission taken.

lay odds

To give odds behind a Don't Pass or Don't Come. Betting against the shooter

Little Joe

Point 4

low

a single roll bet for a 2

M[edit]

mechanic

A shooter who allegedly implements dice control

N[edit]

natural

Rolling a 7 or 11 on the come out roll

Nina

Rolling or betting on a 9

O[edit]

Off

1. The come out roll; when no point has been established

2. To have a bet on the table but not in play. The bet can not be won from or lost when it is Off.

On

1. When a point has been established

2. A bet that is in play (working).

outside numbers

betting on the 4, 5, 9, 10

P[edit]

parley

To parley a bet is to take all the winnings from the previous bet (or up to maximum allowed for bet if winnings exceed maximum) and add it to the next bet.

press

To double a bet, players generally say 'press it' when doubling a bet, players can also press an additional one or more units and can increase the bet less than the original bet by saying 'press X units'

push

a tie

S[edit]

same bet

To keep the previous winning bet as is. If a player says same bet it does not mean to double the bet, that is referred to as 'pressing it'

seven out

A roll of 7 when the point is On. All bets on Pass, Pass Odds, Come, Come Odds, Place bets, Buy bets, hard ways and any single roll bets not for a seven loses. All bets on Don't Pass, Don't Pass Odds, Don't Come, Don't Come Odds, Lay bets and any single roll bets for a seven wins.

snake eyes

A roll of 2

stroker

A player who makes bets overly complicated and/or gives dealers unnecessary additional work

T[edit]

take odds

To bet odds behind a Pass or Come. Betting with the shooter^[5]

take down

See down

true odds

The real odds for payout where house edge is 0%

W[edit]

working

A bet which is in play and can be won or lost.

whirl

A five-unit bet that is a combination of a horn and any-seven bet, with the idea that if a seven is rolled the bet is a push, because the money won on the seven is lost on the horn portions of the bet. The combine odds are 26:5 on the 2, 12, 11:5 on the 3, 11, and a push on the 7.

world

See whirl

wrong way bettor

When a person is betting against the shooter on the Don't Pass Line.

Y[edit]

yo

A roll or bet on 11 (6-5, 5-6), short for Yo-leven

References[edit]

1. ^'Craps Lingo'. readybetgo.com. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
2. ^'Craps Etiquette and Lingo Casino Gambling Game Rules and Strategy Guide'. VegasTripping.com. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
3. ^Jack Botermans (2008). The Book of Games: Strategy, Tactics & History. Sterling. pp. 545–. ISBN978-1-4027-4221-7.
4. ^Craps A Smart Shooters Guide. Cardoza Publishing. pp. 24–. ISBN978-1-58042-576-6.
5. ^R. D. Ellison (2001). Gamble to Win: Craps. Lyle Stuart, Kensington Publishing Corporation. pp. 42–. ISBN978-0-8184-0621-8.

Craps is a dice game that involves predicting the outcome of the roll of dice and betting on the same. Most casinos also allow players to roll the dice when it is their turn. A player can choose either to roll or to pass his move by offering the dice to the next player in the rotation. However, it is often recommended that when a player is given the chance to roll the dice, he should take it. It not only gives you a control over the game but also the power to change it.

Even though the occurrence of numbers in a dice roll is completely a matter of chance, you should still know how to shoot dice properly if you want to increase the probability of getting your desired sum. Here’s how to shoot dice in a craps table game.

Types of bets in craps

Before you actually start shooting dice in a real casino, you should practice some at home. This is especially important for beginners. First of all, you should learn all the rules of playing a dice and of the pass line. The pass line bet is the most common in craps game and its outcome decides how the dice will be passed around the table.

Playing a pass line bet

This is the first bet played in the game of craps. It starts with a comeout roll. The bets are placed before the comeout by the players by placing chips in the area marked “pass line.” The current shooter makes the pass bet. If he doesn’t want to bet on the pass, the next player becomes the shooter and makes the pass bet. After that, the comeout roll takes place.

Based on the outcome of the comeout roll, the pass bettors win or loss or take specific actions.

Free odds bet: Free odds can be placed by a bettor to back his pass or come bet. These are paid at true odds since casinos do not take a portion of it.

Don’t pass or don’t come bet: It is opposite of pass and come bets used by don’t bettors.

Place bets: These bets do not involve the comeout. You win based on whichever number you choose to bet on.

Lay odds: These are used by don’t bettors to lay the odds.

Shooting Dice Rules

Dice Shooting related terminologies (vocabulary)

If you are looking to shoot better dice in craps, you should definitely get yourself familiar with the following terminologies.

• Shooter: the player who has to roll the dice.
• Comeout: The first roll of a pass bet round.
• Pass: The pass line is the region between two lines that extend throughout the table. Pass bets are placed in that area.
• Craps: The rolling of 2, 3 or 12 is called craps.
• Point: The comeout roll of 5. 6. 7, 8, 9 or 10
• Seven Out: When a 7 occurs before the point is repeated, the pass bettors lose. It is called seven out.

Shooting Dice

How to shoot dice in a casino

Now that you know everything there is know about the game, let’s learn to shoot the best dice in the game of craps.

Becoming a shooter

The shooter position is offered to the next player (clockwise) around the table when the current shooter sevens out. It comes to you when it is your turn to shoot. The dice are given to the shooter by the stickman. You may choose any two dice from the available options, although all dice are identical.

Shooting the dice

When you become the shooter, the next thing you need to do is make a pass bet. Once you do that, you can roll the dice. The dice must be rolled toward the other end of the table and far from your end. It should be as random as possible and must not be rigged anyhow.

It is important to obey the table rules when shooting the dice. In order to make money at craps, you need to roll fewer 7s than usual to make more points before seven-out. It is even more important for players who are backing their pass bets with free odds as they can make big wins only by making points, which cannot be done if you keep getting 7 on the roll.

Dice Control Technique to shoot dice

Dice control technique is used by many professional craps players to successfully control the rolling of their dice. However, it is not actually possible to control the outcomes of a dice roll, you can only limit it to a certain extent. That is what this technique is all about. Another thing to note is that it is a physical skill and not something that everyone can do. Here are some tips to get better at it.

1. Set the dice such that a 3 face is on top of both dice and the diagonal lines formed by these 3 spots are parallel on two dice. However, other players might not wait for you while you set your dice so be fast in finding the right faces to put on top.

2. Put the dice between your forefinger and thumb.

How To Play Craps - Craps Rules Guide For Dummies

3. Release the dice in an arc shape by swinging your arm in a pendulum motion. Avoid putting any spin on the dice so that it doesn’t make many rotations in the air. Throw such that the dice stay as together as possible before they touch the surface of the table.

More Shooting Dice Images

4. The dice must hit the opposite wall and drop on the table.

The idea is to make the dice stop quickly without making too many bounces. Practice this technique as much as you can at home before trying it in an actual casino.