Players' stories

3 June 2018

By John Grochowski

Whenever I relay readers' tales of their experiences in casinos, it seems to inspire other readers to share their own stories.

That seemed to go double for craps players several weeks back, after three players told of their first-time experiences and overcoming the game's learning curve. Eleven more players contacted me to tell of their first times playing craps.

With that strong response, let's revisit the topic with a few more first-time craps experiences.

TED: I had a few false starts. It seemed like something I wanted to try, but every time I'd go to a table and watch a few rolls, I'd realize I didn't know how you won or how you lost. I'd put my money back in my pocket and look for something else to do.

Finally, I brought it up at work. A few guys were talking about having been to the casino, and I asked if anyone had played craps. One guy said sure, it was all he played.

I asked if he could explain it to me. He said he'd do better than that, he'd show me.

A few days later, he brought in a pair of dice and we took our lunch break together. We went out for sandwiches, and he got out the dice and explained pass and come. He had me roll dice until I could explain to him what was happening.

Then he asked if I wanted to go with him next time he played. I did, and I played next to him. After that, I was practically an old pro.

OWEN: I learned online. I looked up the rules, then I practiced at one of the free sites. When it got to where I knew all the bets and how to make them, that's when I decided to give it a go for money in a casino.

That's not to say I was totally prepared. It's different with other players and with a boxman, a stickman and all that. Practice online didn't really prepare me for how fast it all moves, either. As the only player on a practice program, I could take a minute and look something up if I needed to. At the table, if I take a minute, the game has moved on by three rolls.

Online practice beat walking up to a table cold, though. You can do that at some games, but it was well worth my while to learn craps before trying to play for real.

DIRK: I went to an empty table early one morning asked the dealers if they would explain to a beginner if I made minimum bets. They said, "Sure, what do you want to know?"

I didn't know what I wanted to know, but I was told I had to bet pass to shoot. So we just started there. It wasn't too hard, and the rest was easy.

ALLEN: It didn't go as well as I'd hoped. Everyone had been telling me what a great game this was, and I figured what the heck, everybody had a first time.

I bought in for $100, and asked, "What do I do?" Everybody laughed, but nobody seemed to have time to explain.

I tried doing what other players did. The player on my right said, "$6, 6 and 8," so I did too. We lost. I tried some other bets others were making, too. I lost some in one roll, some took more than one, but I still lost and never really figured out how I was losing.

It'll be a long time before I try again.


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