Craps
Hundreds of years ago, a game was being enjoyed on the streets of what is now the United Kingdom and that game was known as Hazard. It was a betting game and is believed to be one of the root games which later evolved in what we now know as Craps. Once it hit France, it found an eager culture of gamblers who not only popularized it in Paris, but took it to the New World, beginning in Quebec and eventually finding its way down to New Orleans where it really took off. The game’s name comes from a French word, crapaud, the term for a toad. Craps is played with the use of dice and although it can be played on the streets, this is technically not allowed and therefore the game has become popular in casinos where it enjoys a much better aesthetic and more complex rules, not to mention higher stakes. Since it is a rapid paced game, it does well in the casino environment where it is sometimes referred to as Bank Craps.
Generally, in the casino version of this game there is at least one player who is playing against the house. However, most games will include several players. The house establishes the odds on its pay outs and covers each of the bets placed at the particular table. Since dice are only rolled by one player at a time, this player is known as playing the role of the shooter. While that player is rolling the dice for the table, the rest of the players will put their wagers in against his or her dice rolls at the start of each round. The dice are normally served up in a bowl with 5 for the shooter to choose from offered by the stickman who runs the Craps table. Since each player has the chance to try their hand at being the shooter, they will each pick dice when their turn arrives unless they choose to pass. In that case, the dice will be offered to the next player in a clockwise rotation around the table. Shooters must roll a total numerical value of either a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 in order to establish a point and be able to keep playing. In the first round, called the come-out round, rolling a 7 or 11 means that the pass line bets are win. However, a roll that totals either 12, 3 or 2 means the shooter has “crapped out” and all the players lose their pass line wagers. Rounds continue after a point is established and with each roll, the shooter is trying to reach either the point value to get the pass line wagers to win and also avoid rolling a 7 because this is called a 7 Out and will mean the pass line wagers are lost. If this happens, a new shooter must be selected. The fast pace and high risk factor of this game, along with its complex set of rules, makes it a very popular destination in most casinos where it is seen as a very social game and generally enjoys a fairly robust atmosphere of camaraderie as players work to beat the house.