A Down and Dirty Introduction to the Game of Craps
Getting straight to the point, craps is a game that can be hard to learn if you're trying to take in too much at one time. There are a lot of different bets that you can make in this game, but they're all based on the same gameplay. If you understand the gameplay, then you can get in on the action with any of the bets that you want, but first you have to know what the odds are for the bets that you're working with.
The shooter is the person rolling the dice, and the first roll of that player's turn is called the come out roll. The pass line bet is a bet that wins when the shooter wins and loses when the shooter loses, and this is the bet to focus on if you want to learn the mechanics of craps. On the come out roll, if a player rolls anything other than a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, then the pass line bet is resolved right away. However, if one of these six numbers happens to be rolled, then another phase of the game starts. During the phase, the shooter is trying to hit that same number again (called the point number) before rolling a seven. For example, if you roll a five on the come out roll, then the point is five. From then on, you're trying to roll a five before you roll a seven to win on your bet.
Those six numbers (4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10) are the focus of a lot of different bets in craps. For example, you can make what are called put and place bets that will bet on whether or not one of these numbers will come before a seven or if a seven will come before one of these numbers, and you don't have to keep up with the pass line bet or the shooter or the come out roll or anything to make them.
There are also the "don't" bets which are the opposite of the normal bets. For example, the don't pass bet is the opposite of the pass line bet and wins when it loses and loses when it wins for the most part. Along similar lines, there are don't place bets, and so on. Overall, once you know the basic mechanics of the game, the rest of it is pretty easy to figure out.