Craps Glossary
Every craps game leans on the same handful of words: come-out roll, point, pass line, seven-out. Once you know them, the rules for any variant read like plain English. This glossary defines the terms you will meet across the whole craps family, from the full casino table to the slang the stickman calls out between rolls.
If you are brand new, skim this page before the rules. You do not need to memorize anything - just get a feel for the vocabulary, then read the full craps rules or the FAQ and the words will already make sense. Each term below has its own link, so other pages can point straight to a definition.
💡 Tip: Learn the four core terms first - come-out roll, point, pass line, and seven-out. Almost every rule you read is built from those four ideas.
The basics
Come-out roll
The first roll of a new round, thrown before any point exists. In bank craps a come-out 7 or 11 wins the pass line, a 2, 3 or 12 loses it, and any other total sets the point. Every variant defines its own come-out results.
Point
The number set by the come-out roll - 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 in bank craps. Once a point is on, the shooter tries to roll it again before a 7. The point is marked on the layout by the puck.
Natural
A come-out roll of 7 or 11, which wins the pass line instantly. Naturals are the happiest sound at a craps table: the round is over before it began, and every right bettor gets paid.
Craps (the roll)
A come-out total of 2, 3 or 12. Pass line bets lose on the spot - "crapping out". The don't pass side wins on 2 and 3 but only pushes on 12, which is where the house edge on the don't side hides.
Seven-out
Rolling a 7 while a point is on. It loses the pass line and all place bets, ends the round, and passes the dice to the next shooter. The stickman's call of "seven out, line away" is the saddest phrase in the game.
Box numbers
The six point numbers - 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 - printed in boxes across the top of the layout. Place bets and buy bets live here, and in New York Craps the box numbers are the whole game.
House edge
The casino's built-in mathematical advantage on a bet, shown as a percent of every dollar wagered. Pass line gives up just 1.41%, the field 2.78%, and some props over 13%. See what are the odds in craps for the full picture.
True odds
The real mathematical chance of a result, with no house cut. A 4 rolls before a 7 exactly 1 time in 3, so true odds are 2:1. The odds bet is the only wager on the table paid at true odds - zero house edge.
Bankroll
The chips you have to play with. On Craps.now every session starts with $500 in free virtual chips, and doubling up to $1,000 wins the session. Managing your bankroll - bet size versus chips left - is most of craps strategy.
Table minimum / maximum
The smallest and largest bet a table allows on one spot. Our tables run a $5 minimum and a $250 maximum, so a single hot roll can move your bankroll fast but can never end the session in one bet.
Puck (ON/OFF)
The plastic disc that marks the point. White side up ("ON") sitting on a box number means a point is set; black side up ("OFF") in the corner means the next roll is a come-out. One glance tells you where the round stands.
Working bet / off
A bet is working when it can win or lose on the next roll, and off when it sits out. Place bets are off on the come-out by default. Calling a bet off is how you sidestep one dangerous roll without picking your chips up.
Bets
Pass line
The basic bet that the shooter wins. It pays 1:1 and carries a house edge of just 1.41%, one of the best numbers in any casino. See the pass line, explained simply for a full walkthrough.
Don't pass
The bet against the shooter, paying 1:1 with a 1.36% edge. It wins on a come-out 2 or 3, pushes on 12 ("bar 12"), and wins whenever a seven-out beats the point. Playing this side makes you a wrong bettor.
Come bet
A pass line bet made mid-round. The next roll acts as its own private come-out: 7 or 11 wins, 2, 3 or 12 loses, and any box number becomes the come bet's own point. It lets you get more numbers working while a point is on.
Don't come
The mid-round version of don't pass. Your chips travel to a box number and win if a 7 shows before that number repeats. Same rules as don't pass, including the bar on 12.
Odds bet / taking odds
An extra bet behind your pass or come bet once a point is set, paid at true odds: 2:1 on 4 and 10, 3:2 on 5 and 9, 6:5 on 6 and 8. It has zero house edge - the only such bet in the casino. See what are odds bets.
Laying odds
The don't side's version of the odds bet. You risk more to win less because the 7 is the favorite: lay 2:1 against the 4 or 10, 3:2 against the 5 or 9, 6:5 against the 6 or 8. Also zero house edge.
Place bet
A direct bet on a box number, winning if it rolls before a 7. Place 6 or 8 pays 7:6 (1.52% edge), place 5 or 9 pays 7:5 (4.00%), and place 4 or 10 pays 9:5 (6.67%). The 6 and 8 are the only place bets worth a habit.
Buy bet
A place-style bet paid at true odds in exchange for a 5% commission. Buying makes the most sense on the 4 and 10, where the true-odds boost outweighs the vig. New York Craps runs its whole game on this idea.
Field
A one-roll bet that the next total is 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 or 12. Most numbers pay 1:1, the 2 pays 2:1 and the 12 pays 3:1, for a 2.78% edge. It looks generous - seven winning numbers! - but the five losers (5, 6, 7, 8) are the most common totals.
Hardway / hard total
A pair making an even total: hard 4 (2-2), hard 6 (3-3), hard 8 (4-4), hard 10 (5-5). The hardway bet wins if the pair rolls before a 7 or the "easy" version. Hard 6 and 8 pay 9:1; hard 4 and 10 pay 7:1.
Easy way
An even total made without a pair - a 6 rolled as 4-2 or 5-1 instead of 3-3. An easy way kills the matching hardway bet, which is exactly why the stickman calls it out with such glee.
Proposition bets
The one-roll bets in the center of the layout: Any 7 pays 4:1, Any Craps 7:1, Yo and Ace-Deuce 15:1, Aces and Boxcars 30:1. Big payouts, big edges - from 11.11% up to 16.67%. Fun money only.
Vig / vigorish
A commission the house charges on certain bets, usually 5%. Buy bets pay it in bank craps, and New York Craps takes it on every winning box-number bet in place of a pass line.
Press
To increase a winning bet, usually by adding the win to the original stake. "Press the eight" turns a $6 place bet plus its $7 win into a bigger bet on the same number. Pressing chases hot rolls; it also gives wins back to a cold table.
Parlay
To let a whole win ride on the next bet, stake and profit together. A parlayed 15:1 prop that hits twice pays enormously - and almost never does. Parlays are the fastest way to double a bankroll and the fastest way to bust one.
Table slang
Snake eyes
A roll of 2 - a single pip on each die, staring up like two little eyes. It craps out the pass line on a come-out, wins the don't side, and pays 30:1 to anyone brave enough to bet Aces.
Ace-deuce
A roll of 3 - one die shows an ace (1) and the other a deuce (2). A craps number on the come-out, and a 15:1 one-roll prop for players who like long shots.
Yo / yo-leven
Table slang for 11. Dealers call "yo" or "yo-leven" so nobody mishears it as "seven" - the two words rhyme, and the two rolls could not be more different. A come-out yo wins the pass line; the yo prop pays 15:1.
Boxcars / midnight
A roll of 12 - a six on each die, stacked like freight boxcars. It craps out the pass line, pushes the don't (bar 12), and pays 30:1 as a prop. "Midnight" is the same bet by a cooler name.
Hot hand
A shooter rolling point after point without a seven-out. The longest recorded hand is Patricia Demauro's 154 rolls over four hours at the Borgata in 2009. Hot hands are luck, not skill - but nobody at the table cares while one is happening.
Cold table
A table where shooters keep sevening out early. Right bettors lose steadily on a cold table; wrong bettors quietly grind up. Like the hot hand, "cold" describes the recent past - the dice have no memory.
Right bettor
A player who bets with the shooter - pass line, come, place bets. Most of the table bets right, which is why a made point cheers and a seven-out groans.
Wrong bettor
A player who bets against the shooter on don't pass and don't come. Nothing immoral about it - the don't side actually has a slightly lower edge (1.36% versus 1.41%) - but celebrating a seven-out wins few friends.
Dice control / setting
Gripping and throwing the dice the same way every time, hoping to influence the result. No controlled study has shown it works, and online dice are random by design - every roll on Craps.now comes from a fair seeded shuffle of outcomes.
People at the table
Shooter
The player currently throwing the dice. The shooter must bet the pass or don't pass line, and keeps the dice until a seven-out. In every solo game on Craps.now, the shooter is you.
Stickman
The dealer with the long curved stick who pushes the dice to the shooter, calls each roll ("yo-leven!") and runs the proposition bets in the center of the layout.
Boxman
The seated supervisor who guards the casino's chip bank, settles disputes, and inspects dice that leave the table. The boxman is the referee of a live craps game.
Dealer
The two base dealers flanking the boxman, one per side of the table. They pay winners, take losers, and move your place and come bets around the layout for you.
Toke
A tip for the dealers, often made as a bet on their behalf ("two-way yo" splits a prop between you and the crew). No tipping needed on Craps.now - the chips are free anyway.
Rail
The grooved rim of the table where players keep their chips. "Rack" means the same thing. Watching your rail fill up during a hot hand is the whole reason the game exists.
Variants
Bank craps
The full casino version everyone just calls craps: pass and don't pass, odds, place bets, hardways and props, with every bet paid by the house rather than by other players. It is the main table on Craps.now.
Crapless craps
A variant where nothing loses on the come-out: 2, 3, 11 and 12 all become points instead. You can never crap out, but you give up the automatic 11 win, which lifts the pass edge to about 5.38%. Try Crapless Craps here.
Hazard
The medieval English ancestor of craps, played in taverns since the 14th century and mentioned by Chaucer. The caster names a main before rolling, and craps inherited its whole skeleton - and its losing rolls - from it. Play Hazard here.
Main
In hazard, the number the caster calls before rolling, from 5 to 9. Rolling the main is an instant win. Craps is simply hazard with the main locked at 7 forever - that simplification happened in New Orleans around 1805.
Chance
In hazard, the point-like number set when the first roll is neither a nick nor an out. Roll the chance again before the main and you win; roll the main first and you lose. It is the direct ancestor of the craps point.
Nick
An instant win in hazard - rolling your main on the first throw, or 12 when the main is 6 or 8. The nick is hazard's version of the natural.
Street craps
Craps with no table and no layout - just dice, a wall, and pass or don't pass at even money. All the drama, none of the props. Play Street Craps here, no sidewalk required.
That is the core vocabulary of craps. Keep this glossary open in a tab the first few times you try a new table, and the terms will stick fast. Ready to put them to use? Jump into a classic round of Craps, or browse the full lineup on the more games page.