Craps Etiquette: How to Act And Behave at the Craps Table
Every casino game has unwritten rules. Things you are supposed to do, things you are not supposed to do, ways of behaving that everyone at the table expects but that nobody actually tells you about until you mess something up. Craps has more of these unwritten rules than any other game in the casino. It is partly because craps is so social, so the rules are more about behavior than gameplay. It is partly because craps players are notoriously superstitious, so half the etiquette is about not jinxing the table.
I learned most of this etiquette by getting it wrong. I held my drink on the rail one time and got a sharp word from the dealer. I said the word seven once during a point cycle and got glared at by every player at the table. I tried to hand cash to a dealer and got told politely but firmly to put it on the felt. None of these are huge mistakes, but they all marked me as new and they all chipped away at the friendly atmosphere.
This article is the playbook I wish somebody had given me before my first trip to a live table. It covers the things you should do, the things you should not do, and the few weird superstitions that everybody honors even though everybody knows they are superstitions. By the end you should be able to walk up to a live craps table without doing anything that would mark you as a tourist.
The cardinal rule: do not say the word seven
Start here because this one is the biggest. Once a point has been established and the puck is on, you do not say the word seven. Not at all. Not in any context. Not even if you are talking about the time, the weather, your phone number, or anything else.
The 7 is the bad number during a point cycle. Everyone at the table is rooting against it. The superstition says that saying the word seven somehow brings it out, like calling out a friend who is hiding nearby. Logically this makes no sense. The dice do not have ears. They do not respond to spoken words. Mathematically, saying seven cannot possibly affect what the dice do.
None of that matters. The superstition is real at every craps table you will ever play at. Saying seven during a point cycle gets you glared at by the other players. Some dealers will pretend they did not hear you. The boxman might say something like "we don't say that here." If a 7 comes up shortly after you said it, you will be blamed, even though that is statistically nonsensical. Just do not say it.
If you have to refer to the number for some reason, like asking the dealer about a bet, find another way. Use "the bad number" or "you know what" or just point. Some people say "big red" because of the red 7 displayed on tables for the any seven prop bet. Whatever works. Just keep the actual word out of your mouth during the point cycle.
This rule does not apply during the come out roll, since the 7 is a winner there. You can say it freely between rounds when the puck is off. As soon as a point gets set, the rule kicks in.
Handling cash and chips
You do not hand cash directly to a dealer. The casino has a rule that money has to go on the felt. The dealer cannot take it from your hand. This is a security thing, designed to make sure every cash transaction is visible and recordable.
So when you walk up and want to buy in for the first time, wait for a moment between rolls. Put your cash on the felt in the empty area in front of you. Say "change please." The dealer will count it out, push you the equivalent in chips, and the boxman will drop your cash through the slot into the box under the table. You collect your chips. That is the process.
Same rule applies to tips. If you want to tip a dealer, do not hand them a chip. Drop it on the felt or place a bet for them. We talk more about tipping below.
Once you have chips, the rules get more relaxed. You can pick chips up, place them on the layout, hand them to other players if you want. The cash rule is specifically about cash. Chips move freely.
One thing to know about chip handling. The casino tracks who you are by where you are standing at the table. Every place number box has positions inside it that map to specific player spots. Your bets on those numbers go in your spot, so the dealer can keep track. If you move around the table during a session, the dealer has to adjust. Try to pick a spot and stay there until you cash out. If you absolutely have to move, tell the dealer first so they can keep your bets straight.
The dice: handling, throwing, and not interfering
Some etiquette around dice handling that you need to know.
If you are the shooter, handle the dice with one hand only. Pick them up with one hand, hold them in one hand, throw them with one hand. Two-handed handling will get you stopped by the boxman. The rule is to prevent palming or switching dice, even though that is not really a concern with modern casino security.
You also need to keep the dice over the table. Do not lift them up over your head, do not bring them down below the rail, do not show them to anyone. Some shooters do little rituals before throwing, which is fine, but keep the dice in plain view above the felt the whole time.
If you are not the shooter, do not touch the dice. Ever. Not when they are in front of the shooter, not when they are being pushed around the table by the stickman, not when they happen to land near you after a roll. The dice belong to the casino and to the current shooter. Other players keeping their hands away is a hard rule.
If a die rolls toward you and you instinctively reach out to stop it, do not. Let it roll. The dealers will retrieve it. Reaching out to grab a die that is in motion can be interpreted as interference and at minimum will get you a sharp word from the boxman.
If a die flies off the table during a throw, just stay where you are. Casino staff will handle it. They might use the same die or get a new one, depending on whether the die is damaged.
Drinks on the rail
Casinos give out free drinks at craps tables. The cocktail waitress will come around regularly. You can have whatever you want.
What you cannot do is put your drink on the rail. The rail is the padded wood or vinyl edge of the table where players lean and where chip racks are built in. Drinks on the rail get bumped, they spill, they leak onto chips, they ruin the table. Most tables have small drink holders built into the rail area that you can use, or shelves underneath the rail. Use those.
Some casinos have tighter rules than others about this. A few tables I have played at had a strict no-drinks-anywhere-on-the-table rule, where you had to hand your drink to a friend or set it on a side table whenever you were betting. Most tables are more relaxed, but they all draw the line at letting your drink sit on the rail proper.
The other thing about drinks. Watch your alcohol intake. A few drinks over a long session is fine. Getting drunk at a craps table tends to result in worse decisions, bigger bets, and bigger losses. The casino is happy to keep your glass full because they know what happens. If you are starting to feel it, slow down or switch to water.
Talking to the dealers
Dealers are doing a job. They have a script, they have rules they have to follow, and they cannot give you advice on what to bet. They can answer questions about how the bets work, but they cannot tell you what to bet or recommend strategies.
The right way to talk to dealers is friendly and concise. Make your bets clearly. "Place the 6 for $12" is a clean instruction. "Hey, can I get like, a place bet on 6 for, you know, twelve bucks?" is harder to parse and slows the table down.
If you have a question, ask between rolls during a quiet moment. Do not interrupt the stickman in the middle of calling out a roll. Do not try to start a long conversation when the dealer is paying out four other players. Be patient and pick your moments.
Dealers usually appreciate a friendly player. A hello when you step up, a thank you when they pay you, basic politeness goes a long way. Some players treat dealers like vending machines that they are trying to extract money from. Dealers notice. They are people. Treat them that way and you will get a much warmer experience.
Specifically, do not blame the dealer for losses. The dealer did not cause your bet to lose. The dice did. The dealer is just paying out the result. Players who get angry at dealers when their bets lose are not popular at any table.
The pit boss and boxman
The boxman sits at the middle of the table on the casino's side. He is the supervisor on duty for that table. The pit boss is a higher-level supervisor who oversees multiple tables in the pit area. You can talk to either of them if there is a problem, but for most things, you talk to your dealer first.
Things to take to the boxman: disputes over a bet, confusion about a payout, a chip that landed in a weird place, anything where you think the dealer made a mistake. The boxman will listen, look at the situation, and either confirm the dealer's call or correct it.
Things to take to the pit boss: comp requests (free meals, room comps, that kind of thing), questions about the casino's rewards program, complaints about a dealer's behavior. Pit bosses also handle larger issues that the boxman cannot resolve.
For most players most of the time, you never directly interact with the boxman or pit boss. They are watching but not engaging. If you do need to talk to one of them, just be polite and clear about what you need.
Tipping
You should tip the dealers when you are winning. The convention is to tip in two ways.
The first is to make a small bet for the dealers as part of your own bet. The most common is something called a two-way bet, where you say "two-way hardway" or "two-way 8" and put down chips for both you and the dealers. The dealer's portion is usually a smaller amount, like a dollar or two on top of your own bet. If both bets win, both you and the dealers collect.
The second is to just hand the dealer a tip when you are doing well. Drop a chip on the felt and say "for the dealers" or "this is for you." The dealer will collect the chip and put it in the tip box. They share tips with the other dealers on shift, so you are not specifically tipping one person, you are tipping the crew.
How much to tip is up to you. Some general guidelines. A few dollars now and then is fine. If you have a hot roll going and you are up significantly, you can tip more. If you are not winning, you do not have to tip at all. Most regulars I know tip somewhere around 5 percent of their winnings, but there is no rule.
One thing not to do: do not stiff the dealers when you have been winning all night. They notice. The next time you sit at that table, the energy will be different. Dealers remember stiff tippers and they remember good tippers. A warm crew makes the table much more pleasant.
The article on being the shooter covers tipping during a hot roll specifically.
Other players: how to coexist
You are sharing a table with up to 13 other players. Most of them are betting the pass line and rooting for the same outcomes. A few might be betting don't pass and rooting for the opposite. Either way, basic civility goes a long way.
Do not give other players advice on what to bet. They did not ask. They probably know what they are doing, or if they do not, they will figure it out themselves. Unsolicited advice is annoying.
Do not comment on other players' bets, especially negatively. If somebody is betting hardways or props, that is their choice. They know the math is bad, or they do not, but it is not your job to lecture them.
Do not blame other players for your losses. Some superstitions go in this direction. People get convinced that a specific player is bad luck, or that the don't pass bettor jinxed the shooter, or whatever. None of that is real. The dice are random. The other players did not cause your losses.
Do high-five and cheer when somebody hits a big bet. The social side of craps is part of why people play. If a stranger next to you wins on a hardway, congratulate them. If they win on a long roll, share in the moment. The whole table experience is built on this kind of friendly interaction.
Do leave the don't pass bettors alone. They are betting a slightly better bet mathematically and they are not actually causing the table to lose. The 7 will hit when the 7 hits. We talk more about this in our don't pass article.
The pace of play
Live craps moves slowly. After every roll there is a settling period while the dealers pay out winners and take losers. New bets get placed. People take odds. The whole process can take a minute or more.
Your job is to fit smoothly into that pace. Make your bets quickly during the settling period. Be ready when the stickman is ready to push the dice back to the shooter. Do not delay the table by trying to make bets after the dice are already out.
If you need to step away for a minute, just tell the dealer "off on the come out" or "color me up if I'm not back." If you have come bets sitting on numbers, those will work even if you are not standing there. Place bets you can ask to be turned off. Just do not abandon a table with active bets and no instructions.
The other side of pace is not rushing things. If you need a moment to think about a bet, take it. Just do not take too long. A few seconds is fine. A minute is not.
Cell phones and other distractions
Most casinos have rules against using your phone at the table. Some are strict about it, some are loose. The general expectation is that you are not on a call, not texting heavily, not taking pictures or video. The casino does not want phones around the table because they look like potential surveillance equipment, and because they slow down play.
If you need to take a call, step away from the table. Tell the dealer you will be back. They will mark your bets accordingly.
Pictures of the table are usually not allowed. Some casinos have stricter rules than others. If you want to take a photo for a memory, ask the boxman first. They might let you, they might not.
Cashing out and leaving
When you are done playing, you cash in your chips at the table. Wait for a moment between rolls, push your chips toward the dealer, and say "color me up" or "color please." The dealer will count your chips, exchange them for higher denomination chips for ease of carrying, and slide them back to you.
Take your chips, tip the dealer if you have been winning, and walk away. You do not exchange the high-denomination chips for cash at the table. You take them to the cashier cage, which is usually somewhere near the casino floor.
One thing to be aware of. If you are leaving with a lot of chips, the casino might give you a CTR form to fill out. CTR stands for Currency Transaction Report. It is a federal anti-money-laundering rule that requires casinos to report cash transactions over a certain threshold, usually $10,000. If you cash out for less than that, no form. If you cash out for more, you fill out the form. It is a small annoyance but not a big deal.
The unwritten rules summary
Here is the short version of everything covered above.
Do not say the word seven during a point cycle. Do not hand cash to dealers, put it on the felt. Handle the dice with one hand if you are the shooter. Do not touch the dice if you are not. Keep your drinks off the rail. Tip the dealers when you are winning. Be polite to everyone. Do not give unsolicited advice. Cheer when other players win. Leave the don't pass bettors alone. Make your bets quickly. Do not take phone calls at the table. Cash out at the table, then take your chips to the cage.
That is most of it. Once you have done a few sessions, all of this becomes automatic. You do not even have to think about it. The etiquette becomes part of how you carry yourself at the table.
One last thing. The most important rule, underneath all the specific ones, is this. Be a person other players want to play with. Be friendly, be fair, be patient, be polite. Tables that have a good vibe are more fun for everyone, and that vibe comes from the people standing at the table. Be one of the good ones.
The next article gets into common craps mistakes, which is sort of the negative version of this article. The etiquette covers behavior. The mistakes article covers strategy errors. Read it next.
Read next: Common Craps Mistakes