The inside walls of the table are covered with a serrated egg-carton like foam, designed to make the dice bounce around to assure randomness. Each throw of the dice is called a "roll". Players take turn rolling the dice, clockwise around the table, and the player rolling at any given time is called the "shooter". When a new shooter is given the dice, his or her first roll is called the ""Come Out"" roll. This begins a new series of rolls by that shooter and lasts for as long as that shooter continues to make winning rolls.

The progress of a game of Craps is marked with a plastic "puck", which is black on one side (OFF) and white on the other (ON) The first roll of the dice in a round of Craps is called the come-out roll. The puck is turned black side up (OFF) during the come-out roll. The basic opening bet in Craps, placed just before the come-out roll, is called a Pass Line bet. The Pass Line bet wins immediately if the come-out roll is 7 or 11 (natural), and loses when the come-out roll is "Craps" (2, 3, or 12) If a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 is rolled on the come-out roll, that number becomes the point. The puck is placed on the Craps layout over the box displaying the numbered rolled as the point with the white side up (ON) The shooter now keeps rolling the dice until either the point is repeated or a 7 is rolled to end the round. If the point repeats first, the Pass Line bet wins. If a 7 is rolled first (seven out), the pass line bet loses.