Soldiers in the Roman Legions used to shave down pig knuckles into the shapes of cubes, and toss them onto their inverted shields as a form of entertainment while in camp. Hence we get the term "to roll the bones". We do know that the game we know today as "craps" came to the United States from Europe.

To bet with the shooter, you must place your bet in an area marked ""Pass Line", before the new shooter rolls the dice. The so-called "Pass Line" is a strip on the table layout marked by two lines roughly two inches wide and it rims the entire table layout across from the Box Man. To bet against the shooter, you must place your bet in an area marked "Don’t Pass". This area is a strip on the table layout and it rims the table directly above the "Pass Line".No matter what stage the game is in, whether on the "Come Out" roll, or in progress, you can jump in immediately and place any bets. The only exception to this is the bet called the "Pass Line" bet with odds", which can be made only on the "Come Out" roll. You can, however, bet with the shooter even while the game is in progress by placing a "Pass Line" bet without odds. Placing your chips halfway over one of the two lines framing the "Pass Line" area does this.

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.