Appearances aside, the object of craps is really quite simple. As the shooter (the person rolling the dice), you win if the first roll is a 7 or 11. If you roll a 2, 3, or 12, you “crap out,” or lose automatically. If you roll any other number — 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 — you keep rolling the dice until you roll that number again, which is called the “pass-line point.” When this happens, your goal is to avoid rolling a 7 on your next rolls; to win, you have to match the pass-line point before 7 comes up. So, for example, if your first roll is a 5, you keep rolling until you hit a 5 again; if you roll a 7 before a 5 comes up, you lose.

The other players around the table bet either that you will match your pass-line point or that you won't. Usually, perhaps because of the party atmosphere around the craps table, other players will bet with the shooter; it's considered bad form to “disrupt the vibes” by betting against the shooter, particularly if he or she is on a hot streak.