Craps Fun Facts and Trivia
Craps is the dice game with the long table, you know the one we are talking about right? The one with the adoring, screaming fans and the attractive female who blow on the dice for luck for the leading man featured in the movies.
The stereotype is true to a certain extent, this really is one of the most social and fun games at a casino and as with most other casino games it has a number of fun facts and some myths that you probably don’t know:
Facts
- It is believed that the first form of the game appeared in Egypt as early as 1573.
- The games name actually comes from the French pronunciation of the word "Crabs", a nickname for the earlier game of Hazard.
- One dice manufacturer supplies Las Vegas casinos with over 25,000 pairs of dice per month.
- Craps dice in casinos are clear so that the boxman can easily tell if illegally weighted dice have been smuggled into the game.
- It is true that the Odds bet is the only bet that is not listed on the Craps layout.
- Insurance bets are sucker bets. An Insurance bet is a bet at a Craps table, one of which is sure to win. Why would you want to put money down on 2 bets, if you know that 99% of the time, one of them always loses. If it sounds like a jackass, chances are it is a jackass and that, my friends, is a jackass play. Don't waste your money on Insurance bets - EVER!
- There is a huge misconception that if you bet the Don't Come Bet, you're really betting with the casinos. Absolutely not true. The casinos work out the odds so that they work out in their favour in the long run and will never set them so that you are not betting with them. Don't be fooled.
- Frank Sinatra’s song "Luck be a lady tonight" features the lyrics "A lady doesn't wander all over the room; And blow on some other guys dice". This is a reference to both the superstition and etiquette involved in craps.
- The plot of the well-known musical "Guys and Dolls" is developed around Craps games which "float" from location to location.
- Big 6 and Big 8 bets are against the law in Atlantic City. That should be a BIG eye-opener (pun intended) for you when considering your odds of winning on these bets.
Myths and Superstitions
- Superstition exists in craps games and saying the word "seven" is supposedly bad luck.
- Another superstition is that it is bad luck to change dice in the middle of a roll and you’ll notice the superstitious individuals as they will be the ones shouting "Same Dice" just to make sure the dice are not changed.
- A penny thrown under the table is said to be good luck.
- A lady blowing on her partner's dice is said to be good luck.
- There is a myth that it is bad luck for the Shooter to receive the dice from the Stickman with a 7 is showing. Under normal circumstances, the Stickman does not send out the dice with a 7 showing; however, sometimes, this cannot be prevented, because dice may hit chips while the Stickman is sending them to the Shooter and, invariably, a 7 is shown.
- There is a superstition that female virgin Shooters are good luck and male virgin Shooters are bad luck. Virgin Players are thos Players who have not rolled the dice.
- Superstitious Players think that it is bad luck to play at a table where no one else is playing, because it is believed that the dice are cold and need to be warmed up by being handled first.
- It is believed that a table can be jinxed if a Player throws money down onto the table while the Shooter is rolling the dice.
- If a Shooter is on a winning streak, it is believed that bad luck will befall him if he is touched or talked to during that time.
- A fictional tale exists where, if the Number 7 is called while the Shooter is rolling the dice, he will have bad luck.
- A popular myth in land-based casinos is that it is bad luck when the dice bounce off the table.
