Dice are precision instruments engineered to very strict specifications. The boxman will inspect the dice for any flaws such as nicks or chips before putting them into play. If the dice are thrown off the table they have to be inspected before being put back into play. The average life of a pair of dice is only about eight hours. Also be aware that casino dice are much larger than, for instance, Yahtzee dice, and have sharper edges.
Let’s take a look the dice.
Dice are cubes about three quarters of an inch square. One alone is called a die. Each die has spots called “pips” totaling a number from one to six on each side. If you add the opposite sides of a die, you will get the number seven. The side with six pips will have one pip on the opposite side. Two and five are on opposite sides as are the three and four. Since each die has six sides and the game is played with two dice, there are 36 (6 x 6) combinations that can be made giving totals of two through twelve.
Take a look at the Dice Chart
You will see that there is only one way to make the numbers two (1 and 1) and twelve (6 and 6). There are two ways to make the number three: (2 and 1) and (1and 2). If it helps you to understand the combinations, picture a blue and a red die. You could have number one on the red and two on the blue, or number two on the red and number one on the blue.
There are two ways to make the three and eleven.
There are three ways to make the four and ten.
There are four ways to make the five and nine.
There are five ways to make the six and eight.
There are six ways to make the seven.
By knowing how the numbers are made, you can calculate the odds of making any number before the seven is rolled. Since the number 7 can be rolled six ways, you divide the number six by the number of ways a number is rolled .
| Number | # ways to roll | True Odds |
| 4 | 3 | 2 to 1 |
| 5 | 4 | 3 to 2 |
| 8 | 5 | 6 to 5 |
| 9 | 4 | 3 to 2 |
| 10 | 3 | 2 to 1 |
Do not confuse True Odds with House Odds! This is one way the casino makes money! For instance a $5 Place Bet on the 4 will only pay $9, so the house odds are 9 to 5 instead of the true odds 2 to 1.
Once you understand the odds and probabilities of the dice, you are on your way to mastering the game of craps.
