Blowing on Dice and Other Rituals: The Superstitious World of Craps

Not many casino games have the same, let’s call it social element, as craps. Slots gaming is usually a solo venture, and you don’t really mingle with people at the blackjack or roulette tables. Poker rooms are packed with tension, bluffing and counter bluffing. Craps, and other dice based games, can attract groups of players who celebrate wins, enjoy the roaring atmosphere, and try their luck throwing the dice in the hope they can win their bets.

The craps table has quite a unique atmosphere in that regard, with camaraderie, shared excitement, and a definitely more social appeal. It is also the place of many gambling superstitions and strange rituals. Blowing on the dice is one of the most commonly practised craps gaming superstition. But it is not the only one out there. Here, we will look at some of these superstitions and analyse whether they actually do anything.

First, Where Craps Comes From

Dice games are popular the world over, and some date back thousands of years. For example, Sic Bo, the traditional Asian dice throwing game, is believed to have started 2,000 years ago. Experts reckon that dice based games came to Europe in antiquity. The first prominent mention of a dice game was in Homer’s Iliad, dating back to the 8th century. It was during the Renaissance that the dice gambling games became a little more standardised, as well as playing card games and other games.

The “original” craps was a game called Hazard, which came around in the Middle Ages. Craps took many of the same rules as Hazard, with one very important twist. Instead of giving the house the job of throwing the dice, it gave players the chance to take the dice, and their fortune, into their own hands. In 1907, John H Winn devised a set of standardized rules, for the modern version of the game. And Craps spread across casinos in the US and beyond.

There are many alternative dice game traditions around the world. For a taster, here are some dice games, from different parts of the world and different epochs. Some were formed thousands of years ago, whereas others only popped up less than 200 years ago.

• Crown and Anchor
• Chuck A Luck
• Bầu cua cá cọp
• Chō han
• The Royal Game of Ur
• Senet
• Yahtzee
• Ludo

Online Craps and Live Dealer Platforms

With the birth of digital gambling, craps was given a new lease of life. Online craps reimagined the traditional dice game and brought it to online gaming platforms.. Instead of players throwing real dice, these online craps games use RNG software, ensuring completely randomised results and fair gameplay. Craps is a popular casino game, despite not being mentioned in the same breath as blackjack, roulette, slots, video poker or poker. At online casinos, it is often an additional game in the portfolio.

There are RNG craps, First Person craps, and even live dealer craps. In these games, the dealer isn’t throwing the dice, but there is a machine arm that you can operate from your mobile device or desktop. Click the throw (or Play) button, and the machine dealer will throw the dice onto the gaming table.

Craps Rituals for Good Luck

Let’s start with the most common – blowing on the dice. The idea is that when you blow on the dice, you are essentially blessing it with good luck. It is similar to players rubbing the dice, or even kissing them. It is quite a common practise all over the world, from Sic Bo dice throwing in Macau to high stakes Craps action on the Vegas Strip. Some casinos have set up rules against players blowing on dice, or kissing them. Not because they are effective, but for hygiene concerns. Another popular one is getting someone else to do the throwing, especially someone who is new to craps (beginner’s luck), or who isn’t staking any money at all.

Superstitions Around the Number 7

One of the other bigger superstitions, which is unique to craps, is avoiding any bets involving the number 7. In craps, a pass line bet is a wager on the dice to land on 7 or 11 in the come out roll. It is one of the standard bets, and considered to be beginner-friendly, especially given the complexity of craps. There is a 16.67% chance of rolling a 7, it is the most commonly rolled number, and yet a 7 can either mean an instant win, a crushing loss, or the end of a streak. If you bet on the pass line, you will win automatically if the come out roll lands on 7 or 11 – the instant win. A roll of 2, 3 or 12 loses, but any other number results in the point being established.

Your bet is locked in, and now you must roll that number again before rolling a 7, otherwise you lose. The 7 can either be your winning number, or the number you fear most, and so some gamblers avoid betting on pass line or any other bet that involves the number 7. Another similar ritual is the practise of not saying the word Seven at a craps table. Some believe it is bad luck, and will even use nicknames such as Big Red or the S-word.

Why Rituals Don’t Work in Craps

Rituals are harmless until someone actually starts believing them, or going to drastic measures to make ends meet. Blowing on the dice is not going to make your chances of winning better or worse. But if you cross your fingers, knock on wood, blow on the dice, and then stake your entire bankroll on a single roll, you are in trouble. The superstitions don’t have any logical foundation that can influence the roll in any way at all.

There are no legal ways to change the dice roll in your favor. The odds are fixed, and designed to suit the house, so all the mathematics points towards the gambler’s financial ruin. Theoretically, if you were to play endless rounds of craps, the maths suggest that the house would ultimately win. Some gamblers think that you can cheat the system by throwing the dice in a way that they don’t roll properly, but simply land on the desired numbers.

This would be possible if it weren’t for the rule that you have to hit the edge to make the roll count. The surrounding walls have a bumpy texture, comprising of mini triangular grooves. When the dice are thrown against this surface, they will bounce off with randomised spins or trajectories, helping to make the results random.

So unless you are shaving the edges, replacing the dice with loaded sets, or cheating in any other way, there is no way to predict the outcome of a dice roll.

Alternative Rituals – Assess Risks and Build Strategies

Backtracking a little, we mentioned that the odds all point towards your financial ruin. This is simply because of the house edge, and the way the odds are priced. The implied probability of the odds does not match the true mathematical odds of the various bets. But this doesn’t mean that you will always go bust when you play craps. Just because the house has an edge, it doesn’t mean you can’t win rounds and end a gaming session in the green.

Instead of using superstitions or lucky charms, you can use real mathematical strategies to plan out your gaming sessions. It involves understanding the odds, picking the bets with the lowest house edge, and creating a craps bankroll to avoid going bust. And, you will need to brush up on your craps knowlegde, understanding how all the craps bets work to make the most of your bankroll.

Betting Strategies in Craps

There are various craps strategies you can employ to test luck and cover your tracks. The simplest to start with is a reliable bankroll strategy. You must calculate how far your bankroll can take you in craps, and see how long you can keep playing before going bust. Set a stake in proportion to that, and your bankroll, and then your gaming should be covered for a good amount of time.

You never know what may happen, but your bankroll should be ample enough to keep you gaming for a while. And hopefully, you may hit some good variance or get a lucky break and win some. Another good practice is to know when to quit. Don’t get over emotional about losses, push for unrealistic goals, and certainly never chase losses.

Specific Betting Strategies

The 3-Point Molly is a hedging strategy that covers 3 numbers. Start by betting on the pass line. If the come out roll is 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10, that is the Point. Place a Come bet and then if the dice has to be rolled again, place a second Come bet. Now, you cover three possible outcomes: the original pass line, the first come point, and the second come point. If you win one of the come points, you will still ride the other come bet, and the pass line. In essence, you are not waiting on a single number, but covering three. The odds bets have no house edge, maximising the potential returns there. It is a low volatility strategy, that optimises your odds with the lowest house edge wagers.

The Irons Cross is another hedging betting system in which you want to cover all numbers on the dice except for 7. So you place bets on the 5, 6 and 8, and a field bet. You then cover every single number except for 7, and will win either with the field or the bets on 5, 6 or 8. If the dice rolls 7, you lose your entire bankroll. But if the rolls don’t produce 7 for a long time, you can build consistent wins. Only in small increments.

The pressing strategy is a simple progressive betting strategy. Like the Martingale betting sequence. It is designed to aggressively pursue wins, and increase your bankroll in increments until you get those wins. Now this is one of the riskiest ways to play craps, especially if you increase your units by large increments. You will need a tremendous bankroll, and hope that the table limits are nice and high so you can accommodate high volatility.

Should You Completely Write Off Craps Rituals?

While they may not have any palpable effects on the game itself, you shouldn’t stigmatise craps rituals. For some, the rituals are nothing more than an extension of the entertainment factor. They might enjoy the fact that they get to blow on the dice, or feel that it makes the game more enjoyable.

Crossing your fingers while gambling may be such a natural instinct, that they would feel uncomfortable without doing so. It’s just as harmless as someone biting their nails at a roulette wheel, or a gambler who avoids touching their gaming chips for fear of bad luck. If it helps calm your nerves or give you an extra sense of entertainment, then who’s to say you can’t enjoy your own gambling rituals. Nearly everyone has one, from wearing a lucky t-shirt to only betting even numbered denominations. Just make sure you play responsibly, respect other players, and play within the rules.