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Learn to Play Craps: Craps Etiquette (Page 1 of 2)
Be smart, play smart, and learn how to play craps the right way!
Etiquette at the craps table is more about common sense and courtesy than anything. Apply these principles and youll have a lot more fun at the table.
The number one tip about craps etiquette is to be nice and polite. Dont be a jerk to the dealers or criticize other players. Dont be a know-it-all trying to explain all the wrong things the guy next to you is doing. If a player asks for help or clarification of what just happened, then by all means be nice and spread the knowledge. Say “please” and “thank you” to the dealers. A little courtesy does, indeed, go a long way to improving your fun at the table.
Learn the game. Know the bets, their odds, and their payoffs. Dont delay the game by asking questions about why you got paid a certain amount.
Never say the word “seven” during a game. If you must say the “S” word, say it after the shooter sevens-out. Even the most sensible people are superstitious at a craps table. When they lose, they must blame someone for their bad luck. Dont give them an opportunity to blame you. Dont curse the dice with your bad-luck mojo by saying the word “seven” during a game. Yes, its silly, but you youll save yourself a ton of aggravation by accepting the fact that people have these ridiculous superstitions.
Dont spill your drink or flick your cigarette ashes on the table. Turn away from the table when taking a gulp or sucking on your cigarette. Have a bit of courtesy and blow your cigarette smoke straight up. The casinos air-handling system will draw it up and minimize how much of it we inhale. People usually stand to your side and behind you, so tilt you head and blow straight up.
Wait until the dice are in the middle of the table to buy-in or make a bet. Dont make late bets. When the stickman pushes the dice to the dealer, dont try to make last-minute bets.
If the shooter is at the opposite end of the table from you, dont hang your arms and hands over the railing into the playing area. If the dice hits your hands, guess who gets blamed for causing a seven to appear.
If youre a “Dont” player, dont root for a seven and dont cheer when a seven appears. Most people play the “Do” or “Pass” and youll irritate them by rooting for a seven. The game just isnt as much fun if the entire table hates you. They wont like you because of the simple fact that youre playing the “Dont” so dont make it worse by screaming, “Yes, I love the seven,” when the shooter rolls a seven-out.
Dont waste time setting the dice before each roll. Read my other articles on the absurdity of dice control (a.k.a. dice setting). Dice control does one thing and one thing only–it delays the game. If you believe in dice control and take forever to set the dice before each roll, then youre showing everyone at the table your ignorance. The idea of dice control is just plain silly. Dont do it.
Luck Versus Skill in Playing Poker Games
Is poker a game based on luck or skill? This debate has been going on for quite sometime now. The group of people who are into the game, say that the rules and strategies are required to play this game. Without skills, one cannot dream of winning this pot. Whereas the other group who are watching poker from a distance, feel that it’s a game totally driven by luck and probability. They feel that it just another game of gambling or lottery requiring no skills.
But if you think harder then poker is a game which has tournaments. We never heard of any other so called gambling tournaments like say blackjack tournament. The famous poker legends definitely didn’t win the World Series of Poker, twice by fluke. From various studies it is clear that a player with knowledge of the game fair better compared to a layman. In Pennsylvania where gambling was being prohibited, a judge named Thomas A. James Junior, declared Texas Holdem to be a game driven by skill and thus does not fall under the category of gambling. This clearly spells out that poker requires much more than sheer luck.
But again if you see it from the other side, then a lucky player with the right cards will go a long way and even win a particular game. And you will have to agree that a bit of luck is required everywhere. Even a skilled poker player will need some luck to push him further towards winning the pot. But poker is generally badly confused with gambling. Moreover it is difficult to say that it’s a game of skill, when a game of payer is played only once. At such a situation it is difficult to predict that which of the two (luck or skill) contributes to the game.
The most rational thinkers will not bother getting into the debatable topic of luck versus skill. They know that poker players should be well aware of the rules, bets and strategies to be able to make the best hand of five cards. A completely ill-informed player cannot go a long way. Luck is again a factor that ensures an easy win. A great set of cards does have an advantage. Where skill can be relied on, luck is not reliable. One cannot go on winning consecutive games on the basis of luck. A player with both good luck and good skill will definitely win the pot but a player with both bad skill and bad luck shouldn’t hope much. So let’s just say that poker requires both luck and skill in the right combination.