Craps terms for every dice total
Most craps terms begin with the dice. Every total from 2 to 12 has at least one nickname, and the stickman uses them so often that some players never hear the plain number. The slang grew from street games and army barracks, and a few of the names describe the pips so literally that you can see them.
| Total | Nicknames | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 2 (1-1) | Aces, snake eyes | Two single pips look like a pair of eyes |
| 3 (1-2) | Ace-deuce | One pip and two pips |
| 4 (2-2) | Hard four, little Joe | A pair makes it the hard way |
| 5 | Fever, fever five | Rhymes, and a long-standing table habit |
| 6 (3-3) | Hard six | A pair of threes |
| 7 | Big red, seven out | Called gently or not at all by nervous players |
| 8 (4-4) | Hard eight, square pair | Two fours form two squares of pips |
| 9 | Nina, center field | The middle number of the field bet |
| 10 (5-5) | Hard ten, puppy paws | Two fives look like paw prints |
| 11 | Yo, yo-leven | Said so nobody mistakes it for seven |
| 12 (6-6) | Boxcars, midnight | Two rows of six, and twelve on the clock |
The hard and easy split applies only to 4, 6, 8 and 10. The hard way is the pair, such as 4-4 for the eight. An easy way is any other combination for the same total, such as 5-3. The difference matters because the hardways bets win only on the pair and lose on the easy version or a seven.
A lot of players avoid the word seven entirely once a point is on and call it big red, or just “the other number”. That habit belongs to craps etiquette more than rules. Nobody will throw you out for saying it, but you may get a look from the shooter, especially if the next roll really is a seven.
Craps lingo for making and changing bets
The second group of craps terms covers what you do with chips. Some are formal names for bets, others are short instructions to the dealer. Learning the instructions matters more than the names, because the dealer acts on exactly what you say, and “press” and “parlay” can mean very different amounts on a big win.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Press | Increase a bet, usually with part of its winnings |
| Parlay | Leave the whole win on the bet, doubling it |
| Take down | Remove a bet and return the chips to you |
| Working | The bet is live and can win or lose on this roll |
| Off | The bet stays on the layout but cannot win or lose |
| Same bet | Keep the bet as it is and pay only the winnings |
| Buy | Pay 5% vig for true odds on a number |
| Lay | Bet against a number, laying odds plus vig |
| Hop | A one-roll bet on one exact combination, such as 4-2 |
| Horn | One-roll bet on 2, 3, 11 and 12 together |
| Horn high | A five-unit horn with the extra unit on one number |
| World or whirl | A horn plus any seven, five units |
| C and E | Craps and eleven, split one-roll bet |
| Put bet | A line bet made after the point is already set |
Working and off cause the most arguments. Place bets are usually off on the come-out roll unless you call them working, while odds on come bets follow house rules. If you are unsure, ask the dealer, who will set an on or off button on your chips. Our page on place bets explains when each default applies.
Horn high and the world bet are where the lingo gets expensive. A horn high yo means five units: one each on 2, 3 and 12, and two on the eleven. The world adds any seven as the fifth unit, so a seven pushes instead of losing everything. The proposition bets guide works out what each combination costs.
Craps terminology for the crew and the table
A full table is run by four people, and each one has a name. Knowing who does what tells you who to ask for change, who places your bets and who settles an argument. Players at the Golden Nugget or Caesars Palace hear the same titles, because craps terminology for the crew is almost identical across American casinos.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Stickman | Dealer in the center who calls rolls and handles the dice |
| Base dealers | The two dealers at each end who pay and place bets |
| Boxman | Supervisor seated between the base dealers, guards the bank |
| Shooter | The player currently throwing the dice |
| Rail | The grooved ledge where players keep their chips |
| Puck | The disc marking the point, on (white) or off (black) |
| Layout | The printed felt with all the betting areas |
| Toke | A tip or a bet placed for the dealers |
| Color up | Swap small chips for larger ones before leaving |
| Bubble craps | An electronic machine with dice under a dome |
The rail matters more than it looks. Your chips go there, not on the layout, and they stay in front of you where you can watch them. The craps table layout page walks through every printed box on the felt and which dealer handles it, which helps when the stickman starts calling bets at speed.
A toke is handed over as a tip or placed as a bet for the crew, often on a hardway or the line. If the bet wins, the dealers keep the payout. Coloring up happens at the end of the session: you push your chips to a dealer, who counts them and returns a few high-value chips for the cage.
Calls that tell you where the hand stands
The last group of craps terms describes the state of the game. They come straight from the rules of the come-out and the point, and most of them are called out loud by the stickman after each throw. Once you know them, the flow of a hand becomes easy to follow even from the back of a crowd.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Come-out roll | The first roll of a new hand |
| Natural | A 7 or 11 on the come-out, pass line wins |
| Crap out | A 2, 3 or 12 on the come-out, pass line loses |
| Point | The 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 set on the come-out |
| Seven out | A 7 after the point, the hand ends |
| PSO | Point seven out, a seven on the first roll after the point |
| Hot table | A run of long hands and made points |
| Front line | Old name for the pass line |
| Don’t pass bar | The 12 that pushes don’t bets on the come-out |
A crap out does not end the shooter’s turn. The pass line loses, the don’t pass wins on the 2 or 3, and the same shooter throws another come-out roll. Only a seven out passes the dice to the next player. The come-out roll and the point guide explains the sequence in detail.
The don’t pass bar is why the dark side still has a house edge. Without it, don’t pass would win on every craps roll and beat the house. Barring the 12 turns that roll into a push. A dicemaker named John H. Winn is credited with the don’t pass layout around 1907, as the history of craps shows.
Craps meaning: where the word came from
The craps meaning at the table is simple: a 2, 3 or 12 on the come-out. The name of the game has a longer route. In hazard, the English ancestor of craps, the losing throws of 2 and 3 were called crabs. The game reached France as krabs, and by the early nineteenth century the word had become craps.
The simplified game traveled to New Orleans, where by some accounts the Creole gentleman Bernard de Marigny brought hazard back from London. It was first called pass, from the French pas. From there it spread up the Mississippi, and the name craps settled on the whole game, not just the losing roll.
Shooting craps simply means playing the game. In everyday English the word crapshoot came to mean any gamble that could go either way, the craps meaning most people outside a casino know. At the table, though, the craps terms that matter are the ones the stickman calls, so listen for yo and big red first.