Craps Glossary

When you are sitting at a craps table at a casino, the most likely situation is that you will hear many craps terms that may be strange and unknown to you (provided that you are playing in an English speaking casino). If you learn these terms associated with Craps, you can engage in the game in an even better fashion.

You will especially hear them from the stick person, the dealers at the crap table and other casino staff responsible for managing the craps tables, as well from the players too. This jargon is important because using it you will be able to make proper bets and to have proper understanding of all the fuss.

The jargon can be overwhelming without explanations and luckily for you we have included them after each term. Some of the terms may be generic gambling terms, but mostly they are strictly associated and used in craps. To better understand this craps language, we will advise you to practice a little craps at online casinos where craps games are set up for free play while using this glossary as your reference.

A

Aces: a bet with which the players is guessing that the total of the two dice on the next roll will be 2.

Aces-Ace/Deuce: bet on 2 or 3 consisting of one roll.

Action: the wagers that are in play or the total quantity spent on playing the game.

Any Craps: betting that the outcome of the dice on the next roll will be 2, 3, or 12.

Any Seven: betting that the outcome of the dice on the next roll will be a total of 7.

Apron: the outer area of the layout on the craps table.

At Risk: this term is used to indicate that a player’s money is in play.

B

Backline: See Don’t Pass Line.

Ballerina Special: when the outcome of the dice is a pair of twos.

Bar 12 or 2: when bets on the don’t come and don’t pass line bets are pushed.

Big 6: this is a bet that the outcome of the dice will be a total of six, and this total needs to be rolled before a seven is rolled. It pays even money.

Big 8: this is a bet that the outcome of the dice will be a total of eight, and this total needs to be rolled before a seven is rolled. It pays even money.

Bones: slang name that refers to the dice.

Boxcars: betting that the total of the dice will be twelve.

Boxman: in land-based casinos there is a table supervisor called ‘boxman’. This supervisor or boxman stands on the opposite of the stickman.

Broke Money: when a player has spent all of his money in the casino, the casino may give him some money for transportation i.e. to get home.

Buffalo: betting on Any Seven and on each of the Hardways.

Buffalo-Yo: betting on eleven and on each of the Hardways.

Buy Bet: a commission of 5% that is given by a player in order to be paid with the correct odds for a place bet. The commission may be applied on a winning bet or during the bet.

C

Capped Dice: biased dice.

Change Only: used by players when they put their money on the table in order to receive chips.

Cocked Dice: when the dice hasn’t fallen on one of its flat sides, but instead it is leaning against something, the sitckman counts the dice after inspecting where it naturally would fall by its leaning.

Cold Table: a table where the shooters cannot make Points.

Come Bet: the come bet is made after the come out roll. It is almost identical to Pass Line.

Come Out Roll: this is the first roll. On this roll Pass Line or Don’t Pass Line bets are won or lost in particular outcomes. For example, pass line bets win if the roll is eleven or a seven, and lose if the roll is twelve, three or two. Don’t Pass line bets win and lose the opposite way.

Crap: when the outcome of the come out roll is twelve, three or two, the numbers with which Pass Line bets lose.

D

Dead: a table with no players.

Dice are in the Middle: this is like a call for players to make their bets, when the stickman places the dice on the proposition bets section.

Don’t Come Bet: made after the come out roll has been made.

Don’t Pass Line Bet: entirely opposite of Pass Line bets. If this bet wins, the Pass Line bets lose.

Down Behind: shouted by the boxman to indicate to the dealer that he hasn’t taken the losing come bets on the table.

Drop: the amount of money that players exchange for chips at a craps table in one casino working shift. The person responsible for keeping track of this is the boxman.

E

Easy Way: when the dice show either four, six, eight or ten and each of the dice has a different number.

Edge: casinos have an advantage on all games against the players and that advantage is the house edge. It is expressed in percentage and represents the small fraction of all bets on the longer term that will go to the house as a profit.

F

Field Bet: betting that the outcome of the dice on the next roll will be two, three, four, nine, ten, eleven or twelve.

Fifty Yard Line: the middle line on the craps table that dice are supposed to pass when they have been rolled by a player.

Flat Bet: making the same bet amount over and over.

Front Line: See Pass Line.

H

Hardway: betting on four, six, eight or ten. This bet wins only of the dice shows the same outcome, for example, hard six is when both dice show three.

Hi-Lo: betting on two and twelve.

Hi-Lo-Yo: betting on two, eleven and twelve.

Hit a Brick: a term used by the stickman to indicate that the dice has hit some of the chip stacks on the table and didn’t manage to go all the way to the other end of the table.

Hop Bet: betting that a specific number will show on both dice.

Hot Table: a table where the shooters are winning.

J

Juice: a commission applied on specific bets.

L

Late Bet: when the dice have already been thrown or are in mid-air while the player places his bet. The boxman decides if the bet is correct by shouting “bet” or “no bet”.

Lay Bet: betting that a seven will be rolled before a specific number, such as four, five, six, eight, nine or ten. These bets have a 5% commission if they are won.

Line Bets: bets made on the Don’t Pass Line or Pass Line.

Little Joe: a dice total of hard four.

Lump: a new and inexperienced dealer at the craps table unable to cope with all the action on the table.

M

Midnight Bet: betting that the outcome of the dice on the next roll will be twelve.

Money Plays: this term is shouted by the dealer when a player makes a wager in cash, and not with chips.

Mop: a slang name for the stick used to get and give the dice.

N

Natural: a word used to describe that a seven or an eleven has been rolled.

No Bet: shouted by the boxman when a late bet has been made too late.

No Roll: shouted by the boxman or the dealer when the rolling is not properly made.

O

One on the Rail: when a dice falls out of the table, it is placed on the rail by the dealer in order to be inspected by the boxman.

One Roll Bets: these are bets whose outcome is decided with the next roll and based on that next roll it is decided if the bet loses or wins.

P

Parlay: when a player leaves his winnings in action.

Pip(s): the dots on the dice that indicate the numbers.

Pit: this is the area in a casino where all the craps tables can be found. The person responsible for this area is the pit boss, and keeps an eye on all the employees and the action.

Place Bet: betting that four, five, six, eight, nine or ten will be rolled before a seven.

Point: when a four, five, six, eight, nine or ten has been rolled on the come out roll, the point has been established. In order for the shooter to win he must rolled the point value again before he rolls a 7.

Point Number: the number of the point that the shooter needs to repeat.

Proposition Bets: these are the hardway and the one roll bets.

S

Snake Eyes: slang word used to refer to a dice total of two (two 1s).

T

Toke: this word is used to refer to the tip given to the dealer by one of the players.

V

Vigorish: another word used for commission.

Y

Yo: slang used for the number eleven.