I know that as a new player at any game, many of us want to sit in and start playing to get the lay of the land.  However, if you want to see how the game is played, it costs nothing to watch some games before you start throwing away your money.  I feel that a person should at least understand how they are loosing there money, before they start handing it over to the casino.

You know for some games I would completely agree with you, but I’m not too sure this would work with craps. I had long been intimidated by craps. There’s so much going on, people throwing chips around, yelling out numbers and bets, dealers grabbing chips and repeating… It’s all very overwhelming to someone who doesn’t know really what’s going on. Personally, I found it much better to go with a friend who knew how to play who could explain things as we went along on a one on one basis.

I never played craps - I’m not even sure what it totally is! However, as 21 said, it seems overwhelming. I’d probably still stop and watch for a bit though after hearing the rules and whatnot to sort of understand what is going on.

I think if someone wants to learn basics of craps… try - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craps... Once you are through with it… give it few shots at home… then visit casino and see how people play it there… after you have figured out how you would play it… start shooting. That’s what I called fundamentally clear craps player.

I looked at the wikipedia site on craps.  It did a great job of explaining a lot about the game. thanks for the tip.  I knew some of the basic stuff but it helped me understand some of the terms I hear yelled out all through the game that I didn’t have a clue about.  Sometimes dealers are too busy to ask and it can be hard to hear if things are really going well.

IMHO the key concept that separates craps from every other casino game is that you are typically betting on the outcome of a series of events rather than a single event.  Take roulette, for example.  Ya bets yer money, the ball goes ‘round ‘n ‘round, the ball drops into a pocket, and all bets are resolved.  Not so in craps.  With the more popular bets you are betting that something will happen before something else happens, which means there can be neutral events which do not resolve your bet.  For example, a place bet on 6 wins if a six is rolled, loses if a 7 is rolled, and remains unresolved if any other number is rolled.  Different players can start different series at different times, which muddies the waters tremendously, but I think that once a novice understands this series idea the rest starts to make sense.

Try WinCraps, a shareware program from http://www.cloudcitysoftware.com. The Help file is one of the best craps primers I have ever seen, and you can practice playing without any pressure. It also has a very advanced simulation engine, so you can simulate millions of rolls very quickly. It even draws graphs of your outcomes! You can download it for free as a demo; registering it unlocks all its functionality for only $19.95; it’s worth much, much more.

BTW, I am not associated with Cloud City Software, but have used it for many years.
Cheers,
Alan Shank

I agree totally thats what I did.I watched the shooters especially.

blackjack - 28 January 2009 06:25 AM

I know that as a new player at any game, many of us want to sit in and start playing to get the lay of the land.  However, if you want to see how the game is played, it costs nothing to watch some games before you start throwing away your money.  I feel that a person should at least understand how they are loosing there money, before they start handing it over to the casino.

That how I feel when I watch people playing some of those new slot machines with multiple lines.

justfewmorerolls - 20 February 2011 03:36 PM

blackjack - 28 January 2009 06:25 AM

I know that as a new player at any game, many of us want to sit in and start playing to get the lay of the land.  However, if you want to see how the game is played, it costs nothing to watch some games before you start throwing away your money.  I feel that a person should at least understand how they are loosing there money, before they start handing it over to the casino.

That how I feel when I watch people playing some of those new slot machines with multiple lines.

I only play 1 line but if I have a slot comp then I will play multi line.I usually play slots to kill time.

I still dont understand the idiots who play two machines at once thats too much IMO

justfewmorerolls - 20 February 2011 03:36 PM

blackjack - 28 January 2009 06:25 AM

I feel that a person should at least understand how they are loosing there money, before they start handing it over to the casino.

That how I feel when I watch people playing some of those new slot machines with multiple lines.

My local haunt used to send me coupons for, among other things, $40 in cash, which paid for my gas for a round trip.  When the economy first went south it decreased that to $25, and now it’s $25 in slot machine play, which obviously has an expected value of less than $25.  Be that as it may, on my last visit I played a slot machine for the first time in decades with my credit.  The first challenge was picking a machine, which reminded me of my video game playing days.  It didn’t take long to figure out how to play Centipede, Pacman, Space Invaders, and the like, but subsequent generations of video games were more complicated and seemed like they would be very expensive to learn how to play, so I didn’t.  Of course all one has to do to play a slot machine is insert money and push a button or two; the machine will tell you if you won or lost.  Still, like justfewmorerolls, I would like to know why I won or lost.  BTW I picked a machine that looked like the old one-arm bandits with three actual reels that spun, but it also looked like there was a potential for a bonus round based on blackjack.  In the 10 minutes it took me to blow the $25 in free play I did not get a bonus round, nor much in the way of entertainment for that matter.  The experience did not persuade me to investigate slot machines any further.

The Midnight Skulker - 22 February 2011 10:37 PM

justfewmorerolls - 20 February 2011 03:36 PM

blackjack - 28 January 2009 06:25 AM

I feel that a person should at least understand how they are loosing there money, before they start handing it over to the casino.

That how I feel when I watch people playing some of those new slot machines with multiple lines.

My local haunt used to send me coupons for, among other things, $40 in cash, which paid for my gas for a round trip.  When the economy first went south it decreased that to $25, and now it’s $25 in slot machine play, which obviously has an expected value of less than $25.  Be that as it may, on my last visit I played a slot machine for the first time in decades with my credit.  The first challenge was picking a machine, which reminded me of my video game playing days.  It didn’t take long to figure out how to play Centipede, Pacman, Space Invaders, and the like, but subsequent generations of video games were more complicated and seemed like they would be very expensive to learn how to play, so I didn’t.  Of course all one has to do to play a slot machine is insert money and push a button or two; the machine will tell you if you won or lost.  Still, like justfewmorerolls, I would like to know why I won or lost.  BTW I picked a machine that looked like the old one-arm bandits with three actual reels that spun, but it also looked like there was a potential for a bonus round based on blackjack.  In the 10 minutes it took me to blow the $25 in free play I did not get a bonus round, nor much in the way of entertainment for that matter.  The experience did not persuade me to investigate slot machines any further.

I still play slots because its cheaper but of course it isnt as fun as craps.On my first ever casino trip to the Sugarhouse I won $175 and I was only playing one line call it beginners luck?Then I won 80 dollars on another machine later that week so Im thinking the rate Im going I could reite in 5 years LOL!But I havent hit since for over 50 bucks anywhere.

I used to work at an arcade/slot distributor and the mechanics told me that the machines are set to give out at a certain time.But the casino can set the difficulty of this.If they know the machine is so full of money they will set it to win easily.So I figured why I won.At that time the machines at the Sugarhouse took one dollar bills so they would fill up much quicker and I was at the right place at the right time.But now they only accept a minimumof $5 so I havent hit.

Another thing if you play 25 times without going to a bonus round LEAVE THE MACHINE.Its set on difficult so you are less likely to win.