Learn craps before you shoot.

The first roll of a shooter's turn is the come-out. A 7 or 11 is a natural and the pass line wins. A 2, 3 or 12 is craps and the pass line loses. Any other total, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, becomes the point.

Once there's a point, the shooter keeps rolling until the point comes again or a 7 does. Point first, the pass line wins. Seven first, that's a seven-out: the pass line loses and the dice move on. The 7 is the most common total, 6 of the 36 ways two dice can land, so every point is more likely to lose than win.

• Watch the puck. Black side up reading OFF means a come-out is next. White side ON, sitting on a number, marks the point.
• The dice go clockwise. To shoot you need a bet on the pass line or the don't pass. You can always pass the dice instead.
• Only a seven-out ends a turn. Making a point doesn't, and neither does craps on the come-out.

The best craps game is also the plainest one. Keep your money on these and the table costs very little:

• Pass line, 1.41%. Pays even money. A come bet is the same bet made while a point is on.
• Don't pass, 1.36%. The pass line turned around: 2 and 3 win on the come-out, 7 and 11 lose, and 12 pushes. That push is where the house gets its edge.
• Odds, 0%. Once your line bet has a point, you can back it with odds that pay true odds: 2:1 on 4 and 10, 3:2 on 5 and 9, 6:5 on 6 and 8. It's the only bet at the table with no house edge.
• Place 6 and 8, 1.52%. Pays 7:6. Bet it in units of $6 so the dealer can pay it exactly.

Most Strip tables offer 3-4-5x odds: three times your flat bet on 4 and 10, four on 5 and 9, five on 6 and 8. To bet more, add odds rather than raising the flat bet. The flat always carries its edge; the odds add action at none.

A place bet wins when its number rolls before a 7. It pays 7:6 on 6 and 8, 7:5 on 5 and 9, and 9:5 on 4 and 10, at edges of 1.52%, 4.00% and 6.67%. Placing the 4 costs more than four times as much as placing the 6.

A buy bet pays true odds less a 5% commission, the vig. When the vig comes out of the win, buying the 4 or 10 is 1.67% against 6.67% to place them, and buying the 5 or 9 is 2.00%. Buying the 6 or 8 is 2.27%, worse than placing them, so place those.

The field is a one-roll bet that wins on 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11 and pays extra on 2 and 12. With the 12 paying 3:1 its edge is 2.78%; where 2 and 12 both pay 2:1 it's 5.56%. Big 6 and big 8 in the corner pay even money at 9.09%, for the same numbers a place bet pays 7:6 on at 1.52%.

The proposition bets in the middle of the table pay well short of the true odds, and most are settled every roll, so the edge comes round fast.

• Any seven, 16.67%. Pays 4:1. The highest edge in the centre.
• Any craps, 11.11%. Pays 7:1 on a 2, 3 or 12.
• Hardways, 9.09% to 11.11%. Hard 6 and 8 pay 9:1; hard 4 and 10 pay 7:1.
• The horn, 12.50%. Four units on 2, 3, 11 and 12. Only the winning part is paid.

$5 on any seven costs about 83 cents a roll on average. $5 on the pass line costs about 7 cents a decision. If you play the centre, keep it small and keep your real money on the line, the odds and the 6 and 8.

What a bet costs is its edge times the money you put through it. A busy table sees about 100 rolls an hour, and a pass line bet is decided about 30 times in that hour. $15 on the pass line is about $450 of action and costs about $6.36 an hour.

Odds cost nothing on average, but they make the swings bigger, and the swings, not the edge, end most short sessions. Pick the table to fit the buy-in: if the only way to play a $15 table is without odds, a $5 or $10 table with odds is the better game.

• Buy in between rolls. Wait until the dice are in the middle and drop your cash on the layout. Dealers don't take cash from your hand.
• Hands out of the landing area. When the shooter has the dice, keep your hands and chips clear of the far end.
• Throw to the back wall. One hand, dice over the table, both hitting the back wall.
• Don't say "seven". It's superstition, but the rail takes it seriously. Call it "big red" if you have to.
• Tip by betting for the dealers. Put a bet for them beside yours on the pass line, or toss a chip to the stickman and call a hardway for the dealers.