Anyone with a buck can be a gambler, but winning at craps is a learned skill, and its a skill worth learning. The allure of the craps table has been the downfall of legendary gamblers from Nick "The Greek" Dandalos to poker pro T.J. Cloutier, but you can be a winning craps player if you follow some very important rules, like learning the odds at craps. Learn craps rules and you'll be thankful.

Once you know the rules of craps, and the odds, you'll find that some bets (like the pass line with a house edge of just 1.41 percent) are very good, while others (like boxcars, or 12, with a house edge of 16.66 percent) are killers. While poker players may be patient and can throw away bad hand after bad hand, they still crave action. Craps, without a doubt, is the number one action game found in a casino. A quick crew of dealers can get the dice in the air every minute, and a hot hand with lots of numbers is the sweetest nectar any gambler has ever tasted. Why? Because a hand can last one roll, or over 100.

The first roll a new shooter makes is called the come out roll, and if they make a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, it becomes the table's point, and they keep shooting until they shoot the number again (and everyone wins on the pass line and they start again), or roll seven before they repeat the number, which ends their turn (and everyone on the pass line loses). That may not sound like an exciting game, but you can also bet on the other numbers rolling before seven, so every time they hit, you get paid. Imagine getting paid every minute and never having to make any additional bets for a 10-minute hand! Can you imagine 20-minutes or half-an-hour? It happens!

The downfall of most gamblers, and especially craps players, is a lack of patience. Instead of working their way slowly up to larger bets, they chuck their money out on the layout and then along comes Seven, wiping them out. Follow these three rules and when you catch a good hand, you'll make a killing!

Be Patient
Just as a poker player waits for a good hand, a successful craps player must do the same. Winning at craps comes on big hands, so you have to wait for them, and then pounce! The best way to do that is to make a small bet on the pass line, take single odds, and wait. Wait until you have a winner before betting any more chips!

So, you've been patient. You've made a pass line bet and it won with single odds. Now you make the same pass line bet and take double odds when the number is established. Now you can make one or two more bets now, by placing the six and the eight. If the point is six, just place the eight for about the size of your pass line bet. If the point is eight, place the six. Now wait, don't risk any more chips until you are paid something.

You placed the six and the eight because the house odds are very small. Don't place the other numbers until you start winning. If there is a pass line winner now, raise your bet on the pass slightly and wait for the come out roll. When a new number is established, take double odds on your pass line bet, and place the other two inside numbers (5, 6, 8, 9) for about the size of your pass line bet. Now you have action of either four or five numbers and you are hoping for a nice long hand with no seven-out roll. Now you start pressing your winning bets.

By being patient, you are placing most of your new bets with winnings, so your current risk is very small. Every time you have a winning pass line bet, raise it 30 percent and take double odds. Every time a place bet hits, take another number until you have them all covered. After that, every time a place bet hits, press it about 30 to 40 percent. An example of this is you have a $18 place six and it hits, take the place bet to $24. If it hits again, take it to $36. Now, pray for numbers.

No Proposition Bets
The horn bets and other proposition bets can make the game of craps a lot of fun! They can also drag you down to the poor house. The odds are very high, and therefore should be avoided. Don't make any prop bets if you can avoid it. However, once you have a winning hand going, you can make the occasional small bet as a flavoring — but you must make very few if your goal is winning at craps!

Be Aggressive When Winning
Winning at craps is all about taking advantage of good rolls. It's not about being perfect or holding the dice right, it's about parlaying some of your winning chips to maximize your bets with streaky dice and then quitting when the string of hands is over.

If you chicken-out and don't maximize your winning streak, you'll win occasionally and lose occasionally, but you'll never experience the big win that pays for so many losers. And, a big win can be really, really big at craps!

It is amazing how fast your place bets and pass line bet with grow in a ten or twenty-minute hand. Just keep pressing, and keeping at least 50 percent of each payoff. If you do this, you'll be ahead of the game and a seven-out won't kill you. If you power press (essentially doubling your bets), you could have 10 numbers roll and then find you didn't really increase your stack much when seven rolled. You've got to take back some of your winnings!

This is the most effective way of maximizing your winnings while keeping your risk small. When should you stop pressing? When you get nervous. Starting with a $10 pass line bet and a $12 six and eight place bet can be pressed to $200 in action on the layout with just eight or ten good rolls. If you get nervous, pull your place bets down and start over, instead of quitting entirely. It's better to enjoy the game than being worried sick about those chips on the layout. You won't have that monster score this way, but you can lock-up some chips and enjoy yourself. In the long run, you've got to make your own decisions. Go with what works for you!