Dozens of different dice games have been played over the years, with a few games requiring as many as ten dice. Some of these games have origins in early American saloons where betting for drinks and money was commonplace. Others are variations on Craps and are still occasionally played in and outside casinos as betting games.

About Dice

There are generally two types of dice in use in the Western world: standard dice and precision, or casino, dice. Dice, or game pieces like them, have been around for thousands of years. Early games were played with dice-like stones, shells and pieces of wood and bone.

Standard dice can be found for a dollar or so in most local department and game stores. Standard dice are manufactured of inexpensive plastic with sunken spots on their faces and with rounded corners and edges. Most dice have a standard arrangement of faces in which opposite sides of a dice will add up to seven, however, some of the cheapest versions might differ.

Precision casino dice are manufactured to exacting standards from high-quality plastic material that is free from defects and is usually transparent. The spots on their faces are made flush to ensure there is no imbalance to the dice. Precision dice are made with straight, sharp edges and corners. Casinos might choose to serialize their dice with embedded numbers and logos to guarantee authenticity.

Variations of Craps

Simple craps is one of the most basic versions of the game. A single roll of the dice determines a win or loss depending on the number and combination of dice spots thrown. Typically, the roll of a 2, 3, 4 or 10, 11, or 12 is considered a win, while all the numbers in between are losers. Bets are placed on the odds of the shooter rolling a winning number.

Private craps is the version most Americans see played in the movies in dim, smoky backrooms where money exchanges hands rapidly. This is high-stakes illegal gambling in most places. But these are also the venues in which experienced crapshooters stand to win the most money. A bookmaker manages all the bets, taking in a profit himself on all wagers. In private craps, when a shooter rolls his point number-- the number thrown after his come out roll-- before he rolls the next 7, or “sevens out,” he wins all the bets on the table. This is how high stakes can be won and lost at a private craps table.