Craps seems like a complicated game because there are so many terms and slang for different bets. Learning the lingo can help you understand the game.
- 2-Way: Player betting one roll wager for himself AND the dealers.
- 3-Way Craps: A bet made in units of 3 with one unit on 2, one unit on 3, and one unit on 12.
- Aces: Betting that the next roll will be the total sum of 2. Also called Snake Eyes.
- Any Craps: A bet that the next roll will be 2, 3, or 12.
- Any Seven: A bet that the next roll will be 7.
- Big Red: Another word for seven. Players will not use the world seven at the table.
- Black: Dealer slang for $100 gaming chips which in most casinos are black.
- Bones: Another name for dice.
- Boxcars: Slang for the 12. Also called midnight.
- Boxman: Table supervisor who sits between the dealers and opposite the stickman.
- Box Numbers: These are the place bet numbers; 4-5-6-8-9-10.
- Boys or The Boys: Slang for the Dealers.
- Cold Dice: Expression used to describe the table when no one is making their point.
- Color In: What you say when cashing out smaller valued chips for larger valued chips when leaving the craps table.
- Come bet: A bet made after the point is established. It is exactly like a pass line bet.
- Come out roll: The first roll of the dice to establish a point.
- Comp: Complimentary or freebies provided to players based on their action.
- Crap Numbers: The numbers 2,3 and 12.
- Craps Check: Betting on any craps during the come out roll to hedge your pass line bet.
- Don't Come bet: A don't pass bet made after the point is established.
- Don't Pass bet: A bet that the shooter will not make his point.
- Double odds: An odds bet that is twice the size of the original pass/come bet. Some casinos offer higher odds.
- Eye in the Sky: Surveillance department or the cameras in the ceiling to watch the players and dealers.
- Front Line: Another name for a pass line bet.
- Garden: Slang for the field bet.
- George: A player who is a good tipper.
- Green: Dealer slang for $25 gaming chips which in most casinos are green.
- Hard Way: A bet on 4, 6, 8, or 10 that wins only if the dice roll as pairs; 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5.
- Hi-Lo: A one roll bet on 2 & 12
- Hi-Lo-Yo: A one roll bet on 2,12 & 11.
- Hop bet: A bet that the next roll will result in one particular combination of the dice, such as; 3-5. 2-2, 3-3, 4-4 etc.
- Horn bet: A bet that the next roll will be 2, 3, 11, or 12, made in multiples of 4, with one unit on each of the numbers.
- Horn High bet: A bet made in multiples of 5 with one unit on 3 of the horn numbers, and two units on the 'high' number (number 12).
- Hot Dice or Hot Table: When players are winning or a player is rolling a lot of numbers.
- Inside Numbers: Place bets on the numbers 5-6 -8-9
- Lay bet: A bet that a 7 will be rolled before the number you are placing (4,5,6,8,9, or 10) comes up.
- Lay-Out: The printed area on the felt where wagers can be placed.
- Lay Odds: After a point has been established an additional odds bet can be made that will win if the original don't pass bet wins.
- Little Joe: Slang for a pair of twos or Hard 4.
- Marker: The plastic disk used to mark the point. One side is printed 'on' and the other 'off'.
- Mark the Point: The dealer puts the Puck on the layout to indicate the point number.
- Midnight: Slang for the 12. Also called box cars.
- Natural: A seven or 11 thrown on the come out roll for a winning bet.
- One Roll Bet: A bet in craps that is one or lost in a single roll.
- Odds Bet: An additional wager made in addition to the pass line bet.
- Off: What you say to indicate that they are not active on the next roll of the dice.
- Off and On: Refers to the way that Dealers pays off COME BETS when a new come bet is the same number as one already established.
- On: This means that your bets are working or in action.
- Outside Numbers: Place bets on the 4-10 –5-9.
- Parlay: Adding your winnings to an original bet and wagering it all.
- Pass Line Bet: A wager made on the come out roll in which you are betting that the shooter will make the point.
- Place bet: A bet that a particular number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10) will be rolled before a 7 is rolled.
- Point: The number established by the come out roll.
- Proposition Bet: A wager on one of the bets in the center of the layout.
- Right Better: A player with a bet on the pass line.
- Rack: The grooved rail where you keep your chips.
- Seven Out: Expression when a shooter rolls a seven before making their point thus losing the pass line bet.
- Shooter: The player rolling the dice.
- Snake Eyes: Slang for the number 2. Also called aces.
- Stickman: The dealer with the stick that pushed the dice to the shooter and calls the rolls.
- Toke: Another word for a tip.
- World Bet: A bet on the horn numbers along with any seven. (2-3-11-12)
- Wrong Bettor: A player betting against the shooter.
- Yo or Yo-leven: The word used for rolling an eleven so as to not confuse it with 'seven.'
Blackjack Pointers
Any Craps – You can bet on any roll of the dice. If 2,3 or 12 rolls you win and are paid 7 to 1. If any other number is rolled, you lose. This is a one roll bet. Hard Ways – There are four 'hard ways' combinations. Hard four (two 2's), hard six (two 3's), hard eight (two 4's) and hard 10 (two 5's). Craps numbers are 2, 3, and 12. These usually are bad news, depending on the bet. A right bettor is a person betting on the pass line. A wrong bettor is someone who bets against the rest of the table by betting on the don't pass line.
Blackjack Pointers
Any Craps – You can bet on any roll of the dice. If 2,3 or 12 rolls you win and are paid 7 to 1. If any other number is rolled, you lose. This is a one roll bet. Hard Ways – There are four 'hard ways' combinations. Hard four (two 2's), hard six (two 3's), hard eight (two 4's) and hard 10 (two 5's). Craps numbers are 2, 3, and 12. These usually are bad news, depending on the bet. A right bettor is a person betting on the pass line. A wrong bettor is someone who bets against the rest of the table by betting on the don't pass line.
Craps Pointers
- Become Versed in Craps – Pointers and Strategies: The Past of Craps Be smart, play smart, and pickup craps the ideal way! Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is just about a century old.
- Sometimes I think craps is a game for manic-depressives. Sometimes you can't make anything happen at the table, and quickly lose your stake. Other times you get on a ride that just keeps going, and you feel that adrenaline surge.
