Making A Craps Table

The entire table was made from pine boards and birch plywood except for the legs which were made from some recycled cedar posts. Given that drinks would eventually be around this, every part of the table was sealed. The base board and layout board were made from 3/4” plywood and 3/4” MDF that was covered with a clear acrylic. The most difficult part of this project was coming up with plans to do the build. So few people have made one before so there wasn't a lot of references to go off of. After spending nearly a month researching craps tables on-line we eventually made our own design for the table. All the professional Craps Supplies you'll ever need for a great game including quality Tables, Dice, Sticks, Layouts, Bumpers, Tabletops and much more. Luxury Craps Tables Craps Sets, Layouts and Table Tops Craps Dice Sticks Craps Buttons and Pucks Craps Dice Craps Bumpers and Rails for Table Construction.

I’m writing a series of blog posts about casino games and the good and bad strategies for playing those games.

There are three dealers at each table (actually, four dealers are assigned to each table, but they rotate so that one is always on break). Two of the dealers stand on the back side of the table facing the players - these are 'on base,' meaning that they are the ones who keep track of your bets, pay you if you win, and take your chips if you lose. The dealers on base also place your bets for you if you are making certain types of bets (for example, Place bets and Come/Don't Come bets are. 137″ Upgraded Craps Table with additional features $ 2,395.00 JMC-CT-9302-M-2-1 Add to cart 137″ Upgraded Craps Table with additional features – blue felt $ 2,395.00 JMC-CT-9302-BK-BL Add to cart 34″ Craps Practice Table w Folding Legs.

Craps is one of my favorite casino games, so I’ve been looking forward to writing this one.

And the beautiful thing about craps is that it’s a game of pure chance. The best strategy is just to choose the bets with the lowest edge for the house and have fun.

But I’ll have some things to say about some of the strategies and systems that other writers promote, too.

They’re mostly bad craps strategies.

Here’s the Only Craps Strategy You Need

When you’re dealing with an entirely random game – like craps – the only strategy that matters is choosing the bets with the lowest house edge and having fun.

I’ll have something to say about shooters and whether they have control over the outcomes later in this post, but for now, let’s just agree that games like craps are purely chance.

In other games that are entirely random, like slot machines, you don’t even really need to decide which bet to place. It’s chosen for you before you sit down.

When playing craps for real money, you have a handful of good bets you can make, but most of the bets on the table are bad. Just skip the bad bets, and you’re all set.

The Bests Bets at the Craps Table

The best bets at the craps table are the pass line bet and the don’t pass bet.

The come and don’t come bets are also great wagers.

I always advise casino gamblers to try to limit their gambling to games where the house edge is lower than 2% — preferably 1.5% or lower.

The house edge for the pass and come bets is the same, 1.41%, which means they qualify.

The house edge for the don’t pass and don’t come bets is even lower, 1.36%, but the 0.05% isn’t worth worrying about. Most people prefer to root for the shooter to succeed.

The other bet to think about at the craps table is the odds bet. This is a bet you can only place after making one of the 4 bets I already mentioned and when the shooter has set a point.

This is one of the only bets in the casino that has no house edge. It’s a break-even bet, but it can be expensive.

It can also drive the effective house edge on the money you have in action down to almost nothing.

Here’s how that works.

How the Odds Bet Changes the House Edge for the Better

If you’re betting on the pass line and the shooter sets a point, you can expect to lose $1.41 for every $100 you bet. That’s on average and in the long run.

If you’re playing at a casino that only allows you to place an odds bet at 1X the size of your pass line bet, you can put another $100 into action.

Your expected loss remains $1.41, though, which effectively cuts the house edge in half, from 1.41% to 0.71%.

If you’re able to bet 2X your original bet on the odds bet, you can lower that even further to 0.36%. (You have $300 in action, but your expected loss is still only $1.41.)

The more you’re able to bet on the odds bet, the lower the house edge for all the money you have in action becomes.

It’s clear why betting on the pass line and taking the most odds that you can is an effective strategy. With the odds bet, you can get the house edge in craps lower than 0.5% at least some of the time at the table, making it an even better game than blackjack.

And what’s more, you don’t have to memorize basic strategy to get the low house edge at craps.

You just need a big enough casino bankroll to make the right bets, and you need enough sense to avoid the bad bets at the table – of which there are many.

Any Strategy that Involves Placing ANY Other Bets at the Craps Table Is a BAD Craps Strategy

There’s a reason gambling experts measure bets according to their house edge. That’s because it’s the single best indicator of how good or bad a bet is.

The house edge is a statistical estimate of how much money you’ll lose as a percentage of your original bet over the long run.

If the house edge is 1.41%, the casino expects to win an average of $1.41 every time you bet $100.

If the house edge is 16.66%, the casino expects to win an average of $16.66 every time you bet $100.

Which bet looks like the better bet for the casino?

And which one looks like the better bet for the gambler?

It shouldn’t be hard to make the distinction.

Even the best of the bad bets on the craps table are inferior to the 1.41% or 1.36% you can get from the pass, don’t pass, come, and don’t come bets.

And trust me on this:

You can have PLENTY of fun sticking with the basic bets at the craps table.

Betting Systems Where You Raise and Lower the Size of Your Bets Are Bad Strategies

The classic example of this kind of betting system is the Martingale System, where you double the size of your bets after each loss. When you do this repeatedly, you eventually win back the money you’ve lost along with a profit of one unit.

The problem with a system like the Martingale is that you’ll eventually run into a big enough losing streak that it will wipe out all those small profits and then some.

Most people underestimate how quickly a bet’s size gets when doubling after every loss.

They also overestimate how likely they are to avoid long losing streaks.

If you double a $5 bet once, that’s $10.

But if you run into a losing streak of 8 bets in a row, you’re looking at having to bet $640 to make up for your losses.

Also, every roll of the dice is an independent event. The odds don’t change based on how many times you’ve won or lost in a row.

You might think the probability of losing that 8^th bet is lower than the likelihood of losing the first one, but the truth is that the dice have no memory. They have the same 6 sides, no matter how many times you’ve lost in a row.

Each bet in craps is an independent event, and any betting system will assume that the odds are changing based on how many times in a row you’ve won or lost.

Money Management Strategies Don’t Hurt Anything, but They Won’t Improve Your Odds of Winning, Either

Money management strategies involve having strict gambling discipline about how much of your bankroll you’re willing to risk before quitting the game. They also require you to stop when you’ve won an arbitrary amount of money.

Money management techniques are often used in conjunction with betting systems.

Here’s an example of a money management strategy in craps:

You decide your bankroll for the session is $250, and you’re playing for $5 per roll of the dice.

Your stop-loss limit is $100, so, if your bankroll drops to $150, you must quit the craps session and go do something else.

Your win goal is $250, so once your bankroll gets up to $500, you must quit the game and go do something else.

This kind of strategy might increase your chances of walking away from the game a winner.

But that’s only because a lot of gamblers will just keep playing until they’ve lost their entire stake. They just don’t generally have a lot of sense about that sort of thing.

The Jury’s Out on Dice Setting or Dice Control

I’ve seen multiple reputable gambling writers express interest and some belief that some craps shooters can influence the probability of specific outcomes. I’m skeptical – in the extreme – but I’ll give it an appropriate amount of credence.

The idea is that you hold the dice a specific way – “setting” the dice – then throw with a minimum amount of force – just enough to hit the back wall and eliminate most of the rolling action.

A controlled shooting expert doesn’t have to be perfect. Instead, they’re trying to be like someone who’s playing darts. They improve the probability enough to change the negative expectation on a bet to a positive expectation.

You can buy books and videos explaining how to get an edge at craps this way, but I can’t imagine the amount of practice and record-keeping required to have any confidence in your ability to change the odds.

Imagine if you spent 1000 hours trying to learn how to control the dice and coming up short. Maybe you just don’t have the knack for it.

That doesn’t sound like a good deal to me.

Craps Table Height

I’d rather learn to count cards in blackjack.

Conclusion

Those are the best and the worst of the strategies I know of for playing craps in the casino. I know plenty of people who would disagree with every recommendation I’ve made, but the math behind the game doesn’t lie.

The best strategy is to stick with the bets with the lowest house edge and have as much fun as you can.

If you’re new to the game of craps, it can seem absolutely mind-boggling in the beginning. I remember the first time I played it, and it was like entering another world with its own rules, language, and etiquette.

Diy Craps Table Plans

Due to its seeming complexity, it’s easy to ‘slip up’ and make mistakes at the craps table, simply because you don’t have a clue what you’re doing. That’s OK, and you shouldn’t beat yourself up about it, but it can tick other more experienced players and the dealers off.

Therefore, it’s best to know how to avoid making enemies at the craps table by following the pointers I’m about to give you.

There’s no way you’ll master the odds of every craps bet or every single rule of the game until you’ve played at least a half dozen times. That said, if you follow these craps tips, you’ll avoid aggravating your fellow players, and you’ll have a much better night as a result.

Craps Rule Number One: Don’t Bother the Boxman

One of the first things you’ll notice about a typical craps game is that there are five people running it – one boxman and four dealers. They typically rotate positions every twenty minutes or so, and one of them is the designated stickman, who handles bets on the table.

It’s the boxman’s job to run the game, so he or she will sit and overlook proceedings. You can think of the boxman as the boss, and they’ll typically be the most senior member of the casino crew. You don’t want to make an enemy of the boxman, because he or she can boot you out of the game. The boxman’s word is final at the craps table.

It’s the two dealers on either side of the boxman who handle bets. Therefore, they’re the ones you should interact with when you want to place one. Typically, you set your money on the table and ask for chips, and these dealers will set you up with what you need.

Just remember that the boxman is there to oversee the game, and he or she isn’t interested in chatting to you, being touched by you, or being distracted in any way. The boxman has the most important job at the craps table, and if you bother or pester her, you’ll not only make an enemy, you’ll likely get yourself removed from the table and possibly ejected from the casino.

Never bother the boxman. That’s the most important rule of all at the craps table. If you have questions, talk to the stickman or other players who seem open and friendly.

Craps Rule Number Two: Learn the Bets and How to Place Them

Before I make this point, I just want to say that you don’t need to know every single craps bet inside out to be able to play and enjoy the game. However, you’ll want to know enough about the different craps bets that you don’t hold up or stall the game by fumbling around.

Every game has a flow, and this especially applies to craps since its a multiplayer game. In fact, when things really get rolling (pun intended) the players at the table can lose all track of time as they become focused on the game and ‘zone out’, or ‘zone in’ in this case.

This flow state is extremely enjoyable, as any experienced player will tell you. Time flies when you’re in the zone, and staying in it depends on smooth, uninterrupted gameplay. There’s nothing that will mess that up faster than someone green behind the ears holding things up by asking dealers and other players about bets and being indecisive when it comes time to place them.

Before you step forward to place your money on the table, know exactly what bet you want to make. Think of yourself as a cog in the gears of the game. If you stall, the game stalls. The best way to avoid this is to know exactly what you want and move quickly when it comes time to place a wager.

Craps Table Diy

Part of this entails knowing what bets you can place and when you can place them. For example, if you’re the shooter, you’ll usually need to place either a ‘pass line’ or ‘don’t pass’ wager. You definitely need to know what these are at a bare minimum.

Remember that if you’re not comfortable, you can pass on being the shooter and let someone else have a go instead. If in doubt, pass and watch for another while, and you’ll soon pick up what you’re supposed to do.

To find out about all of the different craps bets and how to play the game in general, check out our in-depth guide to real money craps.

Craps Rule Number Three: Understand That the Table is Holy

When it comes to the game of casino craps, there’s nothing more sacrosanct than the table itself. One way to make enemies fast is to spill, place, or knock anything at all onto the craps table.

We all like to have a little drink or six at the casino, and if you’ve ever been in some of the top casinos around the world, you’ll already know that it’s easy to eat everything in sight thanks to all the delicious food options.

However, when it comes to playing craps, it’s best to leave the food and drinks as far away from the table as possible. It’s cool to have a beer or a martini, but it’s best to set it down or have a friend hold it if you want to place a bet or shoot the dice. Never place anything on the table, and never reach in and take anything off the table without the dealer’s permission.

On this point about alcohol, it’s really not cool to be excessively drunk at the craps table, either. Sure, a few players will likely be a little merry, and you’ll be surprised how quickly you bond with some of them if you all start winning money together. High fives aren’t uncommon, but bear hugging strangers in a sweaty, drunk frenzy might not go down so well.

At the craps table, a good rule to live by is that tipsy is OK, and blind, steaming drunk is not. This might not just make you enemies at the table, but might also make enemies out of a couple of 6ft something casino security guards. You don’t want that. Trust me.

Not that I’d have experience with that sort of thing or anything. Moving on!

Craps Rule Number Four: Understand Craps Etiquette

There are lots of little things which you can do at a craps table which might not seem like a big deal to you, but which will annoy other people.

These points tie in under a general ‘craps etiquette’ point. It comes down to basically understanding how craps works and behaving properly at the table.

Keep the following in mind:

• Don’t mess with the dice. Never, ever place the dice in your pockets. Try not to drop them. Don’t switch hands and be aware that some casinos have a one-hand roll policy. Don’t do anything strange like blow on the dice or lick them, even if you’re superstitious. Germs spread that way, and it’s gross.
• Don’t be obnoxious. It’s OK to cheer when you win, but don’t boo other players, yell at the dealers, make accusations of cheating in a confrontational way, or act like a clown in general. Show respect to everyone at the table. This point shouldn’t need to be stated, but you’d be surprised how many people treat casino staff and other players badly.
• Understand table limits. Don’t argue with dealers if they tell you the bet you want to make is too big or small. Different tables have different limits. If you’re trying to place $1,000 bets at a $10 table, you haven’t been paying enough attention. Likewise, if the minimum bet is $20, there’s no point in arguing that you want to bet $10.
• Don’t utter the number ‘s*ven’. Craps players are a superstitious bunch, and the fastest way to raise the collective blood pressure of everyone at the table is to mention the number that comes after six and before eight. It certainly won’t win you any friends, and it will likely make you some enemies.
• Get to grips with the rules. This point ties in with making bets in a timely fashion. Understanding the rules of craps facilitates smooth gameplay and keeps things moving. You can learn all about this fascinating game in our detailed craps guide.

Staying Cool at the Craps Table

Craps Table Plans And Material

So, now you know more about what to do and what not to do at the craps table.

I don’t want you to think that you have to stick to the points above militantly or that other players will snap at you if you make a mistake. That’s not the case at all. Craps is one of the most social, fun games in the casino, and both the dealers and experienced players will generally help you out if you’re unsure about something.

Follow the points above, and you’ll be the cool kid at the craps table. I hope you enjoy yourself and experience the thrill of a hot streak at least once!

Why not share this with your friends on social media so they can learn what you’ve learned today?

Making A Craps Table