How to Set Dice When Playing Craps

Craps is undoubtedly the center of excitement in any casino, especially when a hot shooter is on the table and everyone is making money. The average roll of a craps shooter lasts for six or seven rolls of the dice before their reign ends and the dice are passed to the next player. Sometimes there is a hot shooter, someone who seems to defy the odds and can throw the dice 20, 30, even 40 times before their roll is over. How do they do it? The answer is simple. They are practiced and have groomed their skills at dice control, by setting the dice and using a disciplined method of throwing. Here is how to set the dice when playing craps.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Regulation sized casino dice

1. Know that when it is your turn to be the shooter, the croupier will slide five dice in your direction. Pick any two dice for your turn as shooter. The croupier will retrieve the remaining dice and set them aside. It is now your turn to be the dice shooter.

2. Consider that for the initial roll, known as the "come out" roll, you will want to set the dice in a manner that gives you higher odds of rolling a seven (face value of both dice combined to equal seven, such as 5-2 or 3-4). If a seven is rolled on the come out, you are paid instantly and then repeat the roll. So you want to have the best odds possible of rolling the seven. There are two items to consider when setting your dice for this—the numbers that appear on the top of the dice and the numbers that appear on the front of the dice. Set your dice so that 4/3 are on top, and 2/5 are on the front side. You'll notice that when the dice are set in this manner, all combinations all the way around the dice add up to seven.

3. Throw the dice. This is where hours and hours of practice are needed to perfect your throwing technique. You want to try to let your arm do the throwing rather than your wrist, to reduce the amount of spinning that the dice do in the air. Try to make your target a point on the table near the back wall. The dice must technically hit this wall as part of the rules of the game, but many dice setters feel that they do better if the dice bounce off the table once before hitting the back wall, to slow down the momentum and reduce the amount of spin the dice pick up. You can build a craps box at home and buy dice in the casino gift shop to practice this method.

4. Continue repeating your roll, wracking up the sevens, until a point number is established. Once the point is established, rolling a seven (or 11) becomes the enemy, as this ends your turn. There are a large number of dice setting combinations to use at this stage, depending on the number you would like to try to throw. For new players, the Flying V formation is probably the best option. Set your dice so that 3/3 is displayed on the top, in a V formation, and 1/5 appears on the front side. All combinations around the dice add up to either six or eight, including the hard six (3-3) and hard eight (4-4).

5. Continue throwing until you eventually crap out by throwing a seven or 11.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not get discouraged if this doesn't seem to be working for you. The trick is in the throw and in the release of the dice, and can take a lot of practice before you get into the groove.
• Do not take too long setting the dice or the croupier may move on to the next shooter.