Craps

History
The early history of craps goes back to an Arabic game called az zahr, which loosely translates as "pair of dice". Az zahr itself was carried across the globe and became the English game of hazard. The modern game of craps probably took its name from the French game called crapaud, which also traces its origins all the way back to Arabia and the Middle East.

The American version of the game bears only a passing resemblance to these ancient ancestors, but the idea of betting on the outcome of the roll of a pair of dice remains the same.

Setup and game play
Craps is played around a sunken table comprising a range of different betting spots for gamblers to place their bets. Each game has a dice roller or shooter, who stands at one end of the table and throws a pair of dice off the back wall of the table, or backboard. Each player takes a turn of rolling the dice until he “craps out”, and the next player in line takes up the dice. Rolls are made from one hand and each dice must bounce off the backboard for the roll to be valid.

Betting
The most popular bet in craps is the pass line bet. This involves the shooter rolling a 7 or 11 with his dice, and anyone supporting this bet wins 2 to 1. If the outcome is other than 7 or 11, then the croupier places a special marker on a spot on the table showing this total.

The idea of this move is that the shooter must throw that combination again before he goes back to the pass line bet. Rolling a 7 before rolling the place total loses the shooter that round and the dice passes to the next player in line. There are many other possible betting options, and these are displayed on a table sitting above the craps table.

Craps etiquette
There are probably more unwritten rules, or etiquette surrounding the game of craps than in any other casino game. First up, players must always roll with one hand. Next, if dice fall into certain areas of the board after the roll, then that roll can be forfeit.

Players also cannot bounce their dice off other players’ hands. Another rule requires new players to announce their first throw, as that is considered an unlucky opportunity on which to bet. And most importantly, one must never shout the roll “seven” aloud, as this is certain to bring bad luck. The term “big red” is used in its place.