Craps Terms Glossary – Learn the Lingo of the Pros

Gamblers have always liked creating slang about their favorite pastime, but nowhere is that as apparent as with craps terms. Ever wondered what some of the diverse terminology used in craps means? If you need help navigating craps slang, here’s a comprehensive glossary.

From craps terminology like press and pass to boxmen, bones, Georges, Joes, and Phoebes. The slang surrounding the casino classic is quite fun at times, though understandably frustrating to beginners.

Importantly, we deliberately did not include the names of craps bets. You can find a full list of bets in craps on our craps tutorial page.

Knowing Craps terminology is not only useful, buy can also be used to gauge someone's experience and knowledge about the game.

Table of Contents

What’s With All the Slang in Craps?

At its heart, Craps will always be a community game. A social occasion, even, if you hit the right tables at the right spots. Live casino craps is the best way to experience that rush online. It will never truly replace the excitement of gathering around an actual table, but it gets very close at times.

Every craps table forms a small sort of community – it’s why Don’t Pass and Don’t Come bets are so frowned upon. More importantly for our purposes, this kind of inter-player bond has spawned a variety of slang terms and names that will be unfamiliar to a beginner. The creativity of gambling slang is quite obvious in this game, as our craps glossary shows.

For better or worse, craps lingo and terms and not necessarily ubiquitous. Some of these are simply more obscure than others. In other words – don’t expect every player/dealer to understand all of these.

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The Not So Lucky 7

Slang in craps follows a few consistent patterns. For example, avoid using the word "seven" while at the table! It's widely considered to be bad luck, and gamblers can be a superstitious bunch.

Craps Glossary

A

Ace – A die that shows 1 as the outcome of a roll.
Ace Deuce – Refers to the Any Deuce/Crap 3 bet.
Action – All the wagers currently active on the table.
Against the Dice – Petting on Don’t Pass, or sometimes on Don’t Come.
All the Spots We Got – A term for rolling 12.
All the Spots and All the Dots – This also refers to a 12.
Arm – A player who is “good” at throwing the dice. Someone lucky others rely on by following them with Pass and Come bets.
Apron – The felt outer edges of a real-life craps table.

B

Bar 12 – Rolling 12 and pushing Pass/Don’t Pass bets.
Behind the Line – Betting behind the line refers to placing odds on pass/come bets. Not allowed on all tables, and usually not featured in live casino craps.
Betting Right – Betting on Pass, which usually means you’re hoping for the same result as the rest of the table.
Betting Wrong – Betting on Don’t Pass, or Against the Dice.
Big Red – Slang for a total of 7.
Bones – Coloquial name for craps dice.
Boys – Slang term referring to craps dealers.
Boxcar – Slang for 12.
Boxman – A casino employee that supervises the tables, dealers, and handles the chips/money. Boxmen also often deal with casino comp points or any disputes.
Box Numbers – Different name for the Place bets in craps
Bowl – A container used for storing dice.
Buffalo – Betting 5 units on every Hardways wager and Any Seven.
Buffalo Yo – Same as Buffalo, except you bet Eleven instead of Any Seven.
Bump – A staff break when there are few players at the table.

C

Capped Dice – Crooked dice used for cheating.
Center Field – Collective term for all the bets in the middle of the table; proposition and one-roll bets. Also called Center Bets.
Charting (a Table) – Keeping track of bet outcomes in multiple rounds, usually for strategic purposes.
Cocked Dice – Dice that end up stuck at an angle between two results, usually against the table edge. Typically, the side that would have ended up showing without the obstacle is taken as the outcome. Sometimes, however, all bets are considered void in the round.
Cold Table – A table in which everyone seems to be on a losing streak.
Cold Dice – Similar to a Cold Table.
Corner Red – The corner of a craps table with the Big 6 and Big 8 bets, where available.
Crapless Craps – a specific and rare variant of craps where 2, 3, 11, and 12 all point numbers.
Crap Out – When the shooter rolls 2, 3, or 12, and the shooter changes.
Crap Numbers – The numbers 2, 3, or 12.
Crew – The casino employees staffing a craps table; the ‘boys’.

D

Dead Table – A craps table with no players.
Dice in the Middle – When the Stickman places dice on the middle of the table, it means bets are open.
Double Odds – Taking Odds on your own bet.
Down (Take me Down) – Phrase used to tell the dealer to cancel any current bets you have.
Down Behind – Dealers sometimes use this term to tell a player that their Don’ Pass/Don’t come bet lost.
Duker – A player using a lot of money for a stake; a high-roller.

E

Easy Way – Rolling 4, 6, 8, or 10 without pairs.
Edge – House edge; the statistical advantage of the casino over players.
Eyeballs – Dice showing 2; Snake Eyes.
Eye in the Sky – Casino camera surveillance.

F

Fade – Old term used in street craps, refers to betting against the shooter.
Fever – A roll of 5, “fiver.”
Front Line – Alternate name for the Pass Line bet.

G

Garden – Collective slang term for Field bets.
George – A good tipper.
Green – Refers to $25 casino chips, which are green in most brick-and-mortar casinos.

H

Hard (Way) – Rolling 4, 6, 8, or 10 with a pair. For example, a Hard 4 is a roll of 2+2.
House Edge – Casino advantage; same as Edge.
Hi-Lo – A rarely-seen one-roll bet that wins on an outcome of 2 or 12.
Hi-Lo-Yo – Same as Hi-Lo, but also wins on 11.
Hit a Brick – When the dice roll into a stack of chips.
Hot Table – A table at which most players seem to be winning; the opposite of a Cold table.
Hop – Different term for a Hardways bet.

I

Inside Numbers – The numbers 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Insurance Bet – Placing two or more bets where one wins if the other one loses. A Hedge bet.

J

Juice – The commission paid to a casino on some bets, such as Take/Lay odds; Vig, Vigorish.
Late Bet – A bet made while the dice are in the air. The boxman usually decides whether this bet stands or not.
Little Joe – Slang term for 4.
Little Phoebe – Slang term for 5.

M

Marker – Plastic disc used to mark the Point on the table. Also known as the Puck.
Midnight – Another alternative name for a roll of 12.

N

Natural – Rolling 7 or 11 on the Come Out roll.
No Roll – If the dice don’t roll to the other side of the table from the shooter or roll off the table, the dealer calls a “No Roll”; an invalid roll.

O

Off – Bets that are currently not active are called Off Bets
On – Used to refer to active bets.
Outside Dealer – A stickman outside the pit, found at particularly well-staffed tables.
Outside Numbers – The numbers 4, 5, 9, and 10.

P

Parlay – When a player wins a bet, then uses its stake and winnings to place the next bet.
Payoff – Winnings.
Pips – The dots on dice.
Pit – The section of the casino floor with the craps table.
Place Numbers – The numbers 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10.
Point – The value determined by the Come Out roll. The Point is used to determine the outcome of many bets in subsequent rolls.
Press – Increasing the stake of an already placed bet is called “Pressing a Bet.” Most of the time, pressing implies that you’re doubling the previous stake.
Proposition Bet – A type of bet that includes Hardways and Proposition bets. Typically found in the middle of the table.
Puck – Different name for the Marker.
Puppy Paws – Slang term for 10.

R

Rail (Rack) – The part of the outer edge of a craps table where players can store chips.
Right–Way Bettor – A player who Bets Right.

S

Seven Out – When the shooter rolls a 7 after the point has been established. The round ends and someone else becomes the shooter.
Shooter – The person throwing/rolling the dice.
Skinny Dugan – Slang term for 7. Rarely heard these days.
Skinny McKinney – Saying the word “7” at a craps table is considered bad luck. Hence so many slang terms for it.
Snake Eyes – Term for rolling a 2.
Square Pair – A pair of 4s; a hard 8.
Stickman – The “dealer” at a craps table. Responsible for handling the game and calling the dice number.

T

Toke – A Tip for croupiers/casino employees.
Two-way – A bet split between the player and the croupiers. Usually made on one-bet wagers.

Up Pops the Devil – A roll with an outcome of 7.

V

Vigorish (Vig) – Casino commission. See Juice.

W

Winner on Dark Side – Slang for a roll of 3.
With the Dice – Playing ‘with the dice’ means you’re Betting Right, ie. Making Pass/Come bets instead of Don’t Pass/Don’t Come.
Working Bet – A bet active for the next roll. See: On.
World Bet – Betting on 2, 3, 7, 11, and 12 at once using 5 equal stake units.
Wrong Bettor – A player betting “Against the Dice” – making Don’t Pass/Don’t Come. Also known as Wrong-Way Bettor.

Y

Yo (Yo-Leven) – Sometimes used in place of the word “eleven.” Yo is used to clearly distinguish 11 from “seven” – the two words can sound similar, especially at a loud and crowded craps table.

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