Prompted by watching “Guys and Dolls” on TCM this weekend…
I’m quite familiar with the casino version of craps, but I can’t relate it to the version that’s played in alleys, barracks, etc.
In the casino version, all players are playing against the house – it’s quite possible for everyone around the table to win on a given roll. In the street version, there have to be winners and losers: is the shooter just playing the pass line? And all other players are playing Don’t Pass?
And I assume there aren’t any exotic bets, like Come, Place Bets, Hardways, C&E, Horn Bets…?
And what does it mean to “fade” the shooter? I’ve heard this term in the street version context, but never in a casino.
You’re right–the shooter is always playing the Pass line (betting Right–remember the song in Guys and Dolls where the boys sing “Coming out, coming out, coming out Right!”) and the opponent is always betting Don’t Pass (betting Wrong). These are the only bets available; there are no exotic bets, no horn, hardways, Big 6 or 8, Field, Place, Come, Any Seven, Any Craps, etc. although spectators may, if they wish, bet among themselves as to certain outcomes. But any such spectator bets do not affect the shooter or any players involved in the actual game.
It really is one player against another with no house involved. The shooter wants to play. He asks “I want to play for $100. Who will fade me?” or in plain English, “Who will play against me, covering the $100 [or whatever sum] I am willing to stake?” Somebody says they will, both players put up their money, and the game begins. More than one person can fade the shooter; as long as the players together put up a sum equal to that of the shooter, the game can be played. This latter is what you see in Guys and Dolls–a bunch of the Guys are pooling their funds to fade (cover) the sum the shooter is staking. This is why a bunch of them are throwing their money down on the ground. Anyway, if the dice pass (this is the same as in a casino–the shooter either throws a seven on the comeout roll or establishes a point and makes it again before rolling a seven), the shooter wins. If the dice don’t pass, the opponent wins. It’s as easy as that.
You’re unlikely to hear the term “fade” in a casino since the players are really playing the house. Players know their opponent–the house–is willing to fade the players’ bets up to the table maximum. Players cannot, by the rules of the house, play against each other as in a street game, so there is no chance of hearing “Who will fade me?” in a casino.
You mean if the shooter rolls an 11 on his first throw (coming out) or if he throws a 7 or an 11 before he makes his point, he wins, right? Losing is throwing that first 11 or throwing a 7 or 11 after making his point. That’s crapping out, isn’t it? That’s how I’ve always played it.
On your come-out roll (before the point is established) 7 or 11 wins; 2, 3, or 12 (craps) loses. Anything else is your point.
After the point is established, the point wins; 7 loses. Anything else is ignored for purposes of the pass line/street betting (unless there are exotic bets in place).
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