8 Tips to Help You Learn How to Throw Dice in Craps

As a beginner, you may think that since craps are considered a game of chance, learning how to throw dice in craps doesn’t make much sense. But you couldn’t be more wrong, honestly. We are not talking about predicting the exact position of the dice but limiting the space for the dice to roam off the trajectory you had in mind.

In addition to mastering the physical aspects of the roll of dice – the position of your hand and at the table, the tightness of the grip, etc. – trying to hit a particular spot on the table with your dice travelling much of the trajectory together helps to reduce randomness and keep you in control of the roll.

From the best place at the craps table to perfecting your landing zone, we will walk you through 8 elements of the perfect dice toss!

Let’s roll!

How Not to Roll a 7

Setting the dice by arranging them in a particular manner prevents them from going their own way randomly, knowing that each set of the dice faces is calculated to different craps odds, which you can proceed to explore in more depth later.

There are multiple ways to set the dice in a particular order and position the points on each side to avoid sevens. For instance, the Hardway and 3V sets are the best dice formations if you’re looking to avoid sevens, and we will talk about them further below, where we explain different dice sets.

How to Roll Dice in Craps

Before moving on to the tips and tricks, let’s go over the basic rules to learn how to throw dice in craps.

Rule No. 1 in the dice chapter of the How to play craps textbook is the dice must hit the back wall of the table before landing on the felt; it’s also okay if they touch the felt on their way to the back of the table.

Rule No. 2 says: don’t throw the dice too high. If this happens, the croupier may declare it a no-roll and move on to the next shooter.

And that’s how to roll dice in craps 101. Once you learn not to make these beginner’s mistakes, you will only move up and perfect your dice-throwing skills: you will gain more dice control and confidence in your hand.

#1 Picking the Best Place at the Table

Many professional craps players swear that the right place at the table can significantly influence the outcome of every roll. And those who claim this mostly agree that picking a spot close to the dealer is best.

Why? Because the stickman, as the dealer is known in craps lingo, is stationed on the shorter side of the table and closer to the back, where the dice should bounce off. Being closer to the back of the table gives you more control over dice, allowing you to throw softer rolls.

Next time you’re at the casino, see if they could seat you close to the dealer!

#2 Make Sure Your Fingers Are Dry and Not Sticky

Okay, so this should be the case all the time. You shouldn’t walk around with your hands dirty. The same applies when throwing dice in craps.

Try it at home: try rolling a pair of dice with sticky hands and then again after washing and drying them. Dice are smooth and slide better off clean surfaces. The skin on your hands is no different.

In live craps, it would help to have a tissue or napkin on you to dry your fingers before every throw.

8 tips to help you learn how to throw dice in craps

#3 Setting the Dice

Depending on your goal, there are several ways to set the dice in craps.

All 7 Set

Assuming you have just started playing craps, kick it off with the All 7 Set. This set is the easiest of all and boils down to putting seven on the front and faces of the dice and top. There are three possible dice combinations to form this set: 2:5, 5:2, 4:3, and 5:2.

Hardway set

Another common way to set the dice is the “Hardway” set. This one is also perfect for beginners: it works by lining up the dice so that the die on the left shows 6 to the left, while the die on the right shows 1, again, on the side to the right. Hardways set lets you show hardway numbers (2:2, 3:3, 4:4, 5:5) on the faces of the dice, effectively reducing the chance of hitting a 7.

3V set

Some players prefer to go with the 3V set or place the 3 sides face up, forming the letter V. With the 3V set, you have the hard six on top (two threes), six on the front (5+1), while on the back, you have eight (6+2) and the hard eight on the bottom (4+4). This intermediate-level dice set works when hitting inside numbers, sixes, or eights.

2V Set

When you want to hit fours, ten, and outside numbers, the 2V set is the way to go. The 2 sides on both dice go on top in this formation, with the faces showing four, ten, five or nine.

Crossed Sixes

Looking to score on the come-out roll? Crossed Sixes might help. You position both 6 sides on your dice so that the points on the die are not in line. Assuming you roll the dice end over end, this set could help you get any of the outside numbers.

Straight Sixes

These are the opposite of crossed sixes: placing the sixes on both dice in line, with fives on the back. This strategy can also help to reduce the occurrence of sevens.

#4 Mind the Grip

With dry and clean hands, you open the way to practising your grip on the dice. In short, it should be tight, but not too tight.

Of course, you don’t want to squeeze them too hard so they pop off in your hand. Instead, keep the grip tight enough to keep them together without letting them wander in different directions. Preventing them from moving around, you can make sure the dice shoot together over a longer stretch of the trajectory, helping you achieve the desired effect.

Remember, having dice land where you want is about reducing randomness, and having them travel in the same formation longer will help you avoid a random outcome as much as possible.

#5 How to Toss the Dice in Craps

Ever played golf? When swinging a club, your body must move in a particular manner so the final hit on the ball achieves a desired trajectory. How you pick up and hold the dice can significantly influence your roll.

We advise practising the following technique: bring your hand over the dice, and handle and toss them from the side. Handling the dice pair from the side with your thumb and the side of the index finger will help you maintain your desired set and keep the dice travelling together through the air and onto the back of the table.

This will help you adjust the throw over time and ensure the dice bounce lightly to help you with the next element of the dice roll:

#6 Your Landing Zone

The landing zone is a 4″ (10cm) diameter space where you want your dice to land. All tables are different, so try to survey the table on the come-out roll: see how soft or hard the surface is and what your position is, and adjust your landing zone accordingly.

You will know your landing zone is good when your dice hit the table wall together, make a baby bounce, and land together gently. Of course, if the back of the table is bouncier than usual, you must adapt the tossing force to compensate for the bounce.

Also, make sure there are no chips near your landing zone. They could instantly blow up a great roll!

#7 Do Not Slam the Dice on The Wall

Okay, so you’ve been dealt a seat at the front of the table, and yours is the longest route the dice must travel to reach the back of the table. You will want to apply as much force as needed but still try not to toss them as if you’re throwing them in anger.

The strategy for hitting the back of the wall should be to assess the distance and make the dice not fall in different directions. Not letting the dice slam on the back of the table is closely related to practising your grip on the dice: these elements of the roll must be in accord so the dice don’t twist and turn as they hit the wall.

#8 Consistency

Consistency is critical to success in any line of work, so practising it in different roll segments will be vital to avoiding undesirable dice outcomes.

Try to practise each dice roll element independently; it will help you master how to shoot dice by building each aspect of the roll on top of the other, simultaneously building your confidence in your rolls.

This, of course, has everything to do with land-based craps: when playing online craps, you can put your faith in RNG to determine a random outcome and hope for the best.

How to Throw Dice in Craps: Tips and Tricks

Tips and tricks to throwing dice in craps boil down to consistency acquired through practice. Like any other endeavour, the more you practise, the better you will become. Honing your skills through practising each segment of the roll truly beats any other craps strategy.

Before we finish, we would also like to add another element to the art of shooting dice: basic table manners. Keep your hands out of the inside of the table so that you won’t interfere with any shooter’s roll. You wouldn’t want anyone to touch your dice, would you?

You can see that the best way to shoot craps dice is finding your way and sticking to it. Now grab a pair of dice and practice until you achieve the desired result. Put up a simple mock-up of a craps table at home and give it a go!