Because the table layout has multiple areas in which to place bets, and the amount and payout of those bets vary, modem players have abandoned craps to concentrate on simpler, less confusing games. But those players are missing out on one of the last bastions of true gambling.
The activity at a craps game is very confusing to a novice. Players throw chips to the dealer yelling what seems to be a secret code, such as “Give me a hard eight for five,” “C and E for a deuce!” “I’ll take a two-way.”
It’s easy to see why observers are mystified by this repartee, but many of these bets are ones that the knowledgeable craps player will not make. Many people play craps but very few play it skillfully, and there lies the difference in a game that wins a great deal of money for the house but, at the same time, treats the intelligent player very well.
To understand why the house makes so much money at the craps table, you first have to understand the maths. There are only so many ways to roll specific numbers on the two dice you use in craps. For instance, there is only one way to roll the two or 12. The true odds of that occurring are 35-1. But the casino does not payoff your bet at the correct ratio; for the two (or 12), you only get 30-1. That gives the casino a rather hefty house advantage of nearly 14 per cent on that bet. So you see, when the house takes such a big percentage of what you’re supposed to get on that bet, the intelligent craps player will avoid those bets.