Craps is a dice game that has always enjoyed enormous popularity at casinos worldwide. It has always been considered a fun and exciting game; the crowd and the noise near a craps table is proof of this. Its popularity stems from the fact that it is easy to play and driven by luck to a large extent. Before online casinos, craps was usually found at the traditional land-based casino. The advent of online casinos changed that completely; it brought craps out of its zone of exclusivity and into the radar of the online casino fan's game spread.
Craps involves a roll of the dice and the players wager on what number the dice would show up when it stops rolling. There are different types of bets involved in craps. Today, a large number of online casinos around the world offer craps to their players. There are a large number of online casinos in South Africa that offer craps to their players.
The fact that dice games are the most random and most unpredictable of all gambling games is hardly shocking. Another obvious truth about dice games is that they always attract a large crowd and that the last rounds can be totally breath-taking and shocking. And when it comes to dice games, one certainly can’t omit craps. For years it has been regarded as one of the liveliest games in casinos around the world. The point of the game is very simple. The players make wagers on the outcome of the roles of dice. The wagers can be placed on a single roll, on a roll of pair of dice or on a series of roll.
Best Craps Casinos and Bonuses
If you want to get cracking with a game of craps straight away, here is a list of the best South African online craps casinos for you:
As mentioned earlier, craps is a dice game that involves a roll of a pair of dice. Players bet on the result at the end of a roll of the dice, or of a series of rolls. To play craps online, the first step is to find an online casino that offers craps in its collection of games, register an account with it and then fund your account to play for real money. If you want to play in practice mode, you need not immediately fund your account.
When you fund your account, you collect casino credits or chips, which you can use to place bets. There are different kinds of bets, each with different odds, that you can place during a game of craps. These bets are:
Pass line bets
Come bets
Don't pass
Don't come bets
Field bets
Place bets
Proposition or prop bets
Odds on pass line bets
Odds on come bets
Big six, big eight bets
When you play online craps, the first roll is important because it can end the round. The first round ends if the roll of the dice throws up the number 2, 3, 7, 11, or 12. This round is called the come out round. If the total at the end of the first round is a number other than the ones mentioned above, i.e. 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, the number is referred to as the point and is indicated on the table by a black puck. If your roll throws up a point, the dice is rolled till you roll either 7 or the same point.
Once the dice stops rolling, the winners are decided. The winning bets and ties are paid out and the losing bets are moved off the table. If you have a winning bet, you get the original bet amount back once the winnings are paid out.
Craps Strategy
So what strategy do you adopt to win at craps? Actually a strategy devised to ensure you win may not even work as this is a game of chance and it all depends on the roll of the dice, literally. What will actually work as strategy is to be able to ensure that you have a way to keep the house edge at the minimum, thereby reducing your chances of being a perennial loser. Also try to find a way to ensure you have maximum fun playing craps at your favorite online casino.
When it comes to trying to lower the house edge, the best way to do it is work with the Don't Pass bet. When playing this bet, ensure that you are betting minimal amounts. Also, when you get a point, ensure that you back your bet up with the maximum odds. This works well because while the house edge for the regular Don't Pass bet is 1.36%, there is no house edge associated with the odds bet. This is the basic and also very safe strategy to adopt while playing craps.
Another strategy employed by craps players is the Iron Cross or Anything But Seven strategy. You will love this strategy if you are someone into frequent wins. This strategy works things out in such a way that you can score a win on any other number except 7, as the name suggests. This game does not definitely have the lowest house edge, and yet it is a fun game to try out.
The third strategy you can adopt is the Wild Bettor strategy. You can have a lot of fun with this strategy, but there is also an innate danger of finishing of your bankroll in a jiffy. This strategy is for players who are basically looking out for that one big win.
Best South African Real Money Craps
All the South African craps casinos listed above offer good craps games to players, games with cool interfaces and a fun environment that players can soak in when playing.
Casino.com
Casino.com is a fully licensed online casino from the Mansion Group. This Playtech-powered casino offers a craps game that comes with a rich interface and is player-friendly. The minimum bet here is $0 and the maximum bet is $300 depending on the bet the player places. For new players or players who are not well-versed in the game, the casino has a Practice Mode that allows the player to practice the game for free and understand it better before going on to play in real money mode. The game is available in both download and instant play modes.
To play craps at this casino, you need to open an account with the casino and pick whether you are going to play in practice mode or real money mode. If you opt to play in real money mode you need to deposit money into your casino account to be able to place bets and also avail the bonuses available.
Silver Sands Casino
Silver Sands Casino is one of the older South African casinos and offers a good game of craps to its players. This RTG-powered casino is available in download mode and there is also a mobile casino available for those looking to play games from their mobile devices across multiple platforms – iOS, Android, Windows, and Blackberry. If you are playing from your computer, you need to open an account with the casino and download the software to play the games available. To play in real money mode, you must fund your account using one of the many payment methods supported so that you can place bets while playing your favorite game of craps.
Springbok Casino
This is another South African online casino with a good selection of online casino games, including craps. The casino his powered by software from RTG and is available in both download and instant play mode, with a mobile casino option thrown in for those who love playing games from their mobile devices (smartphones and tablets).
At Springbok casino you have to register an account to play your favorite casino games online. Once you register an account, you can play in either download or instant play mode, for fun or for real money. Real money play requires you to fund your account so you can place bets when you are playing craps. The minimum bet here is R1 and the maximum bet is R1000. Once you fund your account you can also make use of the bonuses that the casino offers, starting with the welcome bonus.
Craps Odds
The house edge on the pass line bet is a very fair 1.41%, one of the lower figures you'll see in the casino. However, the real deal is when you take the odds behind the pass line; as we mentioned earlier, this bet has absolutely no house edge. If you make the full 3x odds bet, the combined house edge of the two bets is just 0.47%!
The don't pass bet has a very slightly lower house edge of 1.36%, with laying the odds similarly lowering the combined house edge (to about .34%), as that bet also carries no advantage for the casino.
Other bets tend to carry higher house edges. Here's a quick rundown of some of the most popular bets on the craps table, with their associated house edges: