Craps Basics (compliments of crapsstrategy.com)

The game of craps is played with two six-sided cubes known as dice. Each side of the dice is numbered - one through six. So, playing with two dice, the smallest number that can be rolled is two (1,1) and the largest number that can be rolled is twelve (6,6). There are 36 possible combinations that can be rolled. The table below shows all the possible combinations that the dice can produce. Seven, being the most frequent number rolled, determines all the odds.

The initial throw of the dice - or "come-out" - is the most important roll in the game of craps, since it determines the point that must be repeated before a seven is rolled. A come-out roll occurs under the following conditions:

•  After a seven-out.
• At the start of a new game.
• After a seven or eleven has been rolled on a previous come-out roll.
• When a shooter craps (2, 3 or 12) on a previous come-out roll.
• When a shooter has repeated a point without rolling a seven.