New to Craps? Be Sure to Follow These 10 Unwritten Rules

Thanks to Frank Sinatra, we all know better than to blow on some other guy’s dice, but other than that rather odd bit of craps etiquette, there are plenty of rules everyone should know.

Some of the unwritten rules of craps are more sound advice than secret-handshake-level rules. Sort of like the “don’t run in the halls” commands issued daily in schools throughout the land.

For instance, the Pass and Come bets (and their opposites, the Don’t Pass/Don’t Come bets) are among the best bets in craps simply because they all give the house the least edge.

Don’t forget to check out the best casinos in the US for the safest places to try out any new gambling strategies or to learn a new game.

You can do that, or I can point you directly to some of the best options below. One of the best unwritten craps rules has to be using a reputable online casinos, so before you read the rest of my list, visit these casinos for your craps gambling needs.

My list of craps table etiquette begins with making sure you don’t remove your bet until you’ve been paid.

This should be intuitive of things you shouldn’t do at a craps table, but people prove that assumption over-optimistic every day.

The shooter makes his point, and somebody gleefully reaches for their winning wager on the pass line—not realizing that they are removing any evidence that they placed the bet in the first place.

Sure, base dealers are all super-geniuses with eidetic memories, but just in case you get the one dealer that was sick the day they taught omniscience in craps school, leave your bet on the table until your winnings are placed next to your original bet.

Luckily, you don’t have to apply most of these craps unwritten rules when you play online.

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I should say, “Don’t try to buy in during a roll,” because the dealers will ignore you if you attempt to buy in while the shooter has the dice and is getting ready to roll.

This is very much frowned upon and is one of the things you shouldn’t do at a craps table. As I said, the dealers may ignore you, but more likely, they’ll politely but firmly tell you to wait.

Ideally, the best time to buy in (and certainly the most likely time you’ll get the attention of one of the base dealers) is between shooters, so wait for the current shooter to quit playing or crap out before waving your money at the dealers.

Next up on our list of unwritten rules of craps involves cash.

There are a multitude of reasons why you shouldn’t hand money directly to a dealer at the craps table, but the most important one is that the casino does not permit it.

Any business between gamblers and casino employees is a potential source of cheating, fraud, and theft, so you want to avoid anything that might make the eye in the sky suspicious.

Incidentally, if you’re uncertain of the etiquette of wagering or the basics of the game, look at our guide to playing craps for more information.

One of the oldest unwritten craps rules is to avoid ever saying the word “seven.” You heard me correctly.

Even though you can bet on seven or even win with a roll of seven on various line bets, uttering the word “seven” is sometimes enough to cause all conversation at the craps table to cease.

Everyone gathered around it to slowly turn their heads to look at you in a very “children of the corn” way. Creepy, right?

Avoid the creep-out by expunging the word “seven” from your craps vocabulary. If you must talk about it at all, call it “Big Red.”

Knowing how to act at a craps table is one of the first skills you want to acquire before you head to the craps pit at Caesars Palace.

Cheering each successful dice roll is certainly permitted, but if you’re betting the Don’t lines (Don’t Pass/Don’t Come), most of your fellow gamblers will frown.

See, the don’t pass and don’t come bets are bets “against” the shooter, so everyone else at the table will think less of you if you bet on either of those.

More so if you win with either of those two bets (meaning the shooter loses). And if you cheer or chortle about your win?

Well, better go over to the corner and practice falling. Okay, maybe that’s a bit harsh, but still, it’s considered bad form to cheer when the shooter loses.

You can place wagers right in front of you—the Pass/Don’t Pass, the Come/Don’t Come lines, the field, and the Big 6/8 bets.

But over there, right in front of the dealer (between him and the come line), are squares marked Ten, Nine, 8, Six, 5, and 4—the numbers.

You’re expected (pronounced “required”) to get the dealer’s assistance to place a numbers bet. This could be one of the best-enforced but unwritten rules of craps.

Why? Because the number squares are not near you, meaning that to place your chips, you’d have to lean over the table to do so, and your clothing, hands, etc., might interfere with other bets on the table.

When you are the shooter, do not handle the dice with both hands.

This is because you want to make each throw with the maximum degree of transparency and openness you can. Why? Because people cheat at craps. Not you or me, of course, but people.

Using both hands to rattle the dice before throwing may seem like a good idea, but it provides actual cheaters with a golden opportunity to slip in loaded or shaved dice into the game.

Such cheating hurts not only the casino but all the other gamblers at the table, as well. And since most craps tables can accommodate around 20 gamblers, that’s quite a lot of people to have annoyed with you at once.

Again, you can avoid rules like this by playing live craps, so do that if you’re starting to feel overwhelmed.

This has nothing to do with knowing when to quit. It is about understanding the appropriate time to color up at the craps table.

If you’ve been playing at the craps table for a while, you may have a bunch of low-denomination chips that you understandably don’t want to tote over to the cashier’s cage to cash out.

The best time to color up or out is the same as the best time to enter the game—between shooters.

Craps unwritten rules can be a bit surprising, such as keeping your hands out of the bowl. This is unless you place a bet or remove winnings, so don’t completely avoid this the entire game.

When the shooter throws the dice, they are likely to go just about anywhere (and often do) but what you want to avoid is touching or otherwise interfering with the dice as they’re thrown.

If you get hit with one or both dice while standing normally at the craps table, that’s on the shooter, but if a die hits your hand while you were touching the felt to see if it was as soft as it looked, you are going to find yourself a very persona non grata at the craps table.

One of the most violated of all unspoken craps rules involves your awareness that while you may be the shooter and consequently the center of attention, you are also just one of nearly two dozen gamblers with money riding on the next roll.

Some craps shooters have extensive rituals they must perform with the dice before rolling out (throwing the dice for the first time).

Placing the dice on the felt and drawing invisible lines around them while singing the song “Luck Be a Lady” in its entirety might seem charming and reverent to you.

Still, it is an inconsiderate act of the people waiting for you to roll out.

If you follow craps etiquette, you’ll be able to avoid potentially embarrassing moments when you make your next trip to the casino.

The game itself is already difficult to learn, and these extra steps certainly don’t make it easier. However, the unwritten craps rules I’ve outlined above will ease your way into enjoying one of the most popular casino games.

Before you know it, you’ll be avoiding horn (also called “yo”) bets not because you don’t know what they are but because you know they are sucker bets that give the house a 12% advantage.

And remember that you can always practice your craps strategies on your smartphone with the best gambling apps online.

As you gain knowledge and experience, you’ll feel more confident that you aren’t offending the gambling gods with your profligate breakage of craps etiquette.

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Footnote:

• Reference to Children of the Corn is courtesy of IMDB.