Is there a reccomended way to learn to deal craps?

I just got put on with a second "Monte Carlo Nite" type place. Their craps dealer will be going into the military soon and they said they may break me in on the game. Use me as a stickman at first then see how it goes, thought I'd need to learn it fast as they usually have just one person running the game.

So, to show inititive I'd like to learn some first on my own. Does anyone out there know any free online-resources or any other ways to learn online? Though the craps dealer gets paid twice as much as everyone else (so I heard) and gets more gigs, it isn't enough for a majopr investment.

job openings soon in PA, WV and did someone say Delaware too?

Use the NextShooter.com site, Wizard of Odds site and dealersnetwork site. At dealersnetwork.com there is even an automatic self-test game called Stump A Lump. (Lump being a term for a craps dealer who can't deal properly).
Or just find some attractive young stickchick and take her out for some lessons, some drinks ... .

I would first learn all of the rules on Wizard of Odds and then spend a few hours at a craps table observing. The game is very imposing but easy to remember. The most important things a stickman can do is:

(1) make sure bets don't arrive and depart the table while the dice are not in the middle -- eyes on the table at all times)
(2) calculate payouts appropriately (probably the most difficult job) for your side of the table. You'll need to remember all of your times tables!!!
(3) be as quick as possible, though on a monte carlo night, it is better to be accurate than quick.

If this is a monte-carlo type night, do you pay things differently to give the player an advantage? Do you disallow certain types of bets to make the game quicker?

Quote: boymimbo

I would first learn all of the rules on Wizard of Odds and then spend a few hours at a craps table observing. The game is very imposing but easy to remember. The most important things a stickman can do is:

(1) make sure bets don't arrive and depart the table while the dice are not in the middle -- eyes on the table at all times)
(2) calculate payouts appropriately (probably the most difficult job) for your side of the table. You'll need to remember all of your times tables!!!
(3) be as quick as possible, though on a monte carlo night, it is better to be accurate than quick.

If this is a monte-carlo type night, do you pay things differently to give the player an advantage? Do you disallow certain types of bets to make the game quicker?

I think it is pretty close to the real deal. The hardways and hopping bet odds are marked and look correct. Free odds plays true odds (though maybe they round up instead of down? Haen't learned yet.) Big 6/8 is on the table. C/E is on some tables but not others.

It has taken a year of practice online, looking at the table, and talking to the friendly craps dealers we have (some are jerks!) to get to where I am now. A year ago I didn't know about free odds! My biggest concern is learning all the payouts. I forget how many different bets there are in craps, but I know there has to be a system to memorize them as nobody will be able to remember 100 different bets as fast as they do. There has to be a way to boil it down to a dozen or so "really different" bets then everything is based off of that.

I think the key is just to practice. Try creating a practice layout and having a friend throw dice and you payout. Have him/her do all of the place bets/come bets/don'ts and no don'ts and pay off everything appropriately.

Good luck

Craps dealers SHOULD get paid more than other dealers because it's far more complex than other games, and the players tend to be less tolerant of rookie dealers. Certain bets pay $x, but when you take into consideration of other bets that have lost, but are the types that a player will want to stay up, have to be subtracted from the payoff. I once saw a guy with so many of those types of stupid bets that when he won, the win didn't cover the loss to keep the bets up, so he STILL had to pay!

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Yes, there ARE certain tricks.

For example, the 5 and 9 place bets have $5 units, while the 6 and 8 have $6 units, but they all pay $7 per unit.

I've been playing craps for years and I still don't know it all. Of course, the stuff I don't know is the stuff that I wouldn't bet on anyway - the 'junk in the middle'. Don't get me wrong, I know what the bet's are, and will sometimes point out to a dealer that they misplaced a chip for another player's bet. I just don't bother attempting to analyze them or learn the pay tables because I'm not going to bet them myself.


Good luck.

Quote: AZDuffman

My biggest concern is learning all the payouts. I know there has to be a system to memorize them. There has to be a way to boil it down.

That dealersnetwork site has all the "keys" ... most involve just memorizing the first ten payouts and then moving decimal points as required.
For dealers: listen to the stick calls and realize that is the sequence of events. Bettors are taken care of in an established order using the proper hands (inside and outside) to do it. Learn how to size into a stack. And ofcourse there is the old joke: If you don't know how much to pay a New Yorker just put down chips until the guy from New York smiles, then take that last chip back.
For stick: Learn the calls. Learn the keys for proposition bets.

I'm also a party craps dealer. It's a pretty tough to just start out cold dealing dice without reading much into it. However, there is a rhythm to dealing (taking losing bets, moving come bets to the come point, paying place bets, paying props, etc.) and figuring out the basic payouts becomes more or less automatic. I have a nice *.pdf book called "Precision Craps Dealing" by Dale S. Yeazel (Paid $15 for it a few years ago). It's been pretty helpful for the nuances on the game and sharpening your skills so you at least look like you know what you're doing, and pulling in tokes. I'd be happy to email it to you if you'd like.

Would you have the ebook "Precision Craps Dealing" still available? If so, could you please email a copy to me at clyffcarlock (at) yahoo.com. Thank you.

Quote: clyffcarlock

Would you have the ebook "Precision Craps Dealing" still available? If so, could you please email a copy to me at clyffcarlock(at)yahoo.com. Thank you.

For sale at this site.

Now only $12.50.

Edit: email changed per Wizard's post

Quote: clyffcarlock

Would you have the ebook "Precision Craps Dealing" still available? If so, could you please email a copy to me at clyffcarlock (at) yahoo.com. Thank you.

I took the liberty of changing the @ in the post above to an "at." Never put an e-mail address in text on the web. Spam bots will find it and the next thing you know you'll be inundated with Viagra ads.

do you know where i can find plans to build a 12 craps table. i would like to model it after the tables at casino aztar in evansville indiana. if there is also any information about the craps tables there or where i can find info. please inform me. thanks.

I wrote and published "Precision Crap Dealing" and while I won't claim to have never used another person's software or ebook, I would appreciate it if you would refrain from distributing my work.

You can buy it with paypal and download immediately from my website for only $12.50

Website

There is also this book, which is pretty solid and complete.

http://www.amazon.com/Craps-Vic-Taucer-Ralph-Cutolo/dp/0924719087/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287514345&sr=8-1-fkmr1

However, I have not read "Precision Crap Dealing" so I don't know they compare.