Get ready to dive into the gritty and exhilarating game of street craps, where the sidewalks become the battleground for high-stakes dice action.
In this complete guide, we'll take you on a wild ride through the rules, strategies, and unspoken codes of street craps.
Here’s what you will learn:
Whether you're a seasoned pro or a curious beginner, this guide will equip you with the knowledge to roll the dice like a true street hustler.
Let’s get started!
Street craps, also known as sidewalk craps or shooting dice, is an urban dice game that thrives on the raw energy and quick thinking of its players.
Unlike traditional casino craps, street craps is typically played on the streets or in informal settings, fueled by camaraderie, excitement, and a dash of risk. It involves two or more players taking turns as the shooter, with the objective of rolling specific numbers or combinations to win bets placed by the other players.
With its straightforward gameplay and streetwise charm, street craps has become an underground phenomenon, attracting enthusiasts seeking a fast-paced and unpredictable dice experience.
Craps became popular among American soldiers during World War 2 and the wars that followed. Often, the soldiers would have little else to do when on long voyages, and most men like to gamble, so Street Craps was a natural.
Players often spread a blanket to roll the dice and make their wagers, hoping to win while killing idle time.
Casino Craps has at least 20 bets a player can make, including many prop bets in the center of the table. Street Craps only has very few different bets compared to Casino Craps, mainly pass and don't pass.
Street craps can be played on any hard-level surface, whether in a back alley, on a table or kitchen counter, or a blanket so that impromptu games can be put together by willing parties almost anywhere on the spur of the moment. Casino craps requires a full-blown casino regulation craps table manned by four casino employees.
Casino Craps is legal where offered. However, you must be of legal age to gamble in a casino. Street craps may be subject the player to arrest if street craps is against the law where they are.
Street craps does not offer the high payback prop bets provided in a casino, like 30-to-1 for one roll bets on 2 or 12.
Or bonus bets that can pay as high as 999-to-1 for a six-point Fire Bet in the casinos that offer that wager.
Each turn, all the money bet in street craps is split among the winners, without any vig being taken from the winnings.
Before you can start playing craps on the street, you need to consider a couple rules:
The Role of the Shooter
The shooter acts more or less as a banker in street craps by putting out the amount of money he wants to risk on that round of play.
And the shooter also tosses the dice once other players have covered their offered bets.
If other players fail to protect the bet amounts he provides, he may reduce the size of his offered bet to match what the other players are willing to bet.
Understanding the Dice
The dice used in street craps are brought to the game by the players. Those dice are six-sided dice and, hopefully, aren't crooked-loaded dice designed to make the shooter more likely to lose or win his pass-line bets.
The Concept of Betting
The shooter can bet that he will win by making his point or rolling a come-out 7 or 11 after betting a pass-line bet. If the shooter wants to, he can bet on don't pass, where he can win by tossing a 7 before the established point number is repeated or by rolling a 2 or 3 before establishing a point.
The shooter can be chosen randomly, letting volunteers shoot, or the dice can go around the group with a new shooter each time a bet is won or lost.
Establishing the Betting Rules
Players playing street craps can offer up their favorite side bets as long as another player or group of players matches their offered bet.
Pass and don't pass bets must be made before the shooter makes his opening roll to establish a point number.
The Game Environment
Street craps is usually played with some vertical backstop to bounce the dice against because for a toss to be a roll that counts, it must bounce, and the dice must rotate.
This is done to outlaw what's called a "blanket roll," which is when the dice are whipped sideways to get them not to turn over or rotate as they roll to a stop, but just scoot instead, which gives the numbers on the top of the dice more of a likelihood to appear than normal.
Just think, "dice sliding," and that's illegal even in regular craps.
Gameplay
The Come-Out Roll is preceded by selecting the shooter, who offers up the pass or don't pass bet amount he wants to make and acts as the banker during his turn shooting. The other shooters gathered around the tossing area and then covered as much of his bet by betting against it as they liked.
Once the bet amounts for and against the shooter making his point match each other, the shooter makes his come-out roll.
Understanding the Point
Like in casino craps, a 2 and 3 lose the shooter's pass line bet and win the shooter's don't pass line bet, while 7 and 11 win the pass line bet and lose the don't pass line bet.
Any other number between 4 and 10, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, becomes the point number if rolled, and play continues until the point is either won or lost.
The Subsequent Rolls
Any other number between 4 and 10, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, becomes the point number if rolled, and play continues until the point is either won or lost; then, all winning bets are paid off in full by the bet losers.
In addition to the pass and don't pass bets made, players are free to offer up any kind of bet they like, then it is up to the other players to cover the offered bet.
For example, someone might want to bet that an even number will be rolled on the next toss of the dice.
As I understand it, each player calls out how much of the main bet that they are willing to bet against and that much of the shooter's bet is put with the covering player's money in front of the player covering the bet.
Then, when that bet is decided, the winner claims both sides of each bet that is decided, which makes it kind of a free-wheeling, fast-paced game that moves much quicker than regular craps.
Understanding the Odds
If a player wants to offer up odds when offering his bet to get more takers to cover his bet, he makes those odds known; otherwise, the bets are made at even money.
Here are a few strategies for street craps that you should consider when playing:
Basic Street Craps Strategies
Don't get carried away by how much you gamble playing street craps. It moves fast, and you should know the maximum loss amount you'll be willing to take before you even begin playing.
Don't try to win everything at once; spread your gambling stake out over several shooters to allow you to stay in the game longer.
It ain't much fun if you get wiped out in just a few shooters.
It's best to avoid playing street craps with people you've never met to feel like you've got a fair shot at winning without being cheated, beaten up, or robbed.
Advanced Betting Strategies
More points are lost than won in playing craps, so if the money is being bet without odds, it's probably best to bet they don't pass, but just remember that any single craps session can be hot, with a lot of points made, or it can be cold, with almost no points being made or choppy, where there is a mixture that makes it difficult to win no matter how you are betting.
While street craps is usually played in a casual environment, there are a few etiquette rules that you should consider when playing:
Basic Etiquette in Street Craps
Keep your hands and feet out of the dice rolling area, so the dice won't hit them when tossed, especially when the shooter has the dice and is ready to shoot.
Do your best not to make late bets.
Common Rules and Penalties
A toss is a no-roll if it hits someone's body part, whether hands or feet, and must be rolled again.
Fair Play and Sportsmanship
Unlike in casino craps, nobody has the final word on unusual things that happen in playing street craps. Noone's word is law, which can lead to sticky situations. It might even morph into a full-blown fight if things get out of hand.
And, when money is involved, that's always possible.
Playing street craps in most states may get you arrested for illegal gambling if the game gets busted. That's not a worry when you play regular craps in a casino. You are probably all around safer from physical harm playing in the protected environment of the casino.
Comparing the Rules
Street Craps has just a few basic rules and bets available, making it a lot easier to learn Street Craps than all the prop bets in the casino.
Pros and Cons of Each
You'll probably be safer and get an all-around fairer shake playing casino craps because you should already know exactly what you have working against you at all times and can try to devise strategies to overcome the casino's built-in house advantage.
Of course, in street craps, there is no house advantage to overcome to win, either.
The casino is there for you, usually 24-7-365, for when you want to play craps. In street craps, it may be next to impossible even to find other players to play against.
All it takes to play Street Craps is two or three willing players with money to wager, a pair of dice, and a level spot to toss those dice.
Most casino craps tables only accommodate about a dozen players, whereas with Street Craps, as many can play as can crowd around the tossing area in a circle, and that might be as many as 20 or so players.
Conclusion
I'd advise against going into any dark alleys with total strangers to play Street Craps.
Still, if you can find a group of friends wanting you to join a friendly game at one of their homes or a charity event where it is legal, I consider it to be about the same risks as a friendly in-home poker game.
You could also master the game of casino craps and head over to the tables by reading my Academy expert guides.
Best of luck!
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