A craps roll is the act of throwing two standard six-sided dice across a craps table and reading the sum of the two faces, which can land anywhere from 2 through 12. The shooter is the player who rolls, and every wager on the table — from the Pass Line to hardways — is decided by that combined total rather than the individual faces. To roll dice in craps online, the cleanest method is to use a browser-based Dice Roller set to two six-sided dice, then read the displayed total just as you would on a felt table. Because each die has six faces, rolling two dice produces 36 equally likely combinations, and every craps probability, payout, and house edge is derived directly from those 36 outcomes.
Craps can look intimidating because the table layout is crowded with bets and the lingo is dense, but the actual rolling action is straightforward. Once you understand what the dice are supposed to do, the rest of the game is just deciding which bets to place before each throw. A virtual dice tool removes the need for physical dice, a stickman, or a casino bankroll, which makes it ideal for learning the rules at your own pace. If you want a dedicated walkthrough of the most important craps numbers, the craps 7 or 11 quick guide covers the come-out roll in more depth.
What a Craps Roll Actually Does
Every craps hand starts with a come-out roll. If the shooter rolls a 7 or 11, Pass Line bets win immediately. If the shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12 (called craps), Pass Line bets lose. Any other total — 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 — becomes the point, and the shooter keeps rolling until they either repeat the point (Pass Line wins) or roll a 7 (Pass Line loses, called seven-out).
That single mechanic is the engine of the entire game. Once you internalize it, every other bet on the table is just a side wager that pays out based on whether certain numbers appear before a 7. The dice never change and the rules never change — only the bets you choose to place.
Craps Dice Outcomes at a Glance
Because craps is built on the math of two six-sided dice, it helps to see how often each total can appear. The table below shows the number of distinct face combinations that produce each sum, out of the 36 equally likely ways two d6 dice can land.
| Total | Combinations | Out of 36 | Common name |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1+1 | 1 | Snake eyes |
| 3 | 1+2, 2+1 | 2 | Three |
| 4 | 1+3, 2+2, 3+1 | 3 | Four |
| 5 | 1+4, 2+3, 3+2, 4+1 | 4 | Five |
| 6 | 1+5, 2+4, 3+3, 4+2, 5+1 | 5 | Six |
| 7 | 1+6, 2+5, 3+4, 4+3, 5+2, 6+1 | 6 | Seven (natural or winner) |
| 8 | 2+6, 3+5, 4+4, 5+3, 6+2 | 5 | Eight |
| 9 | 3+6, 4+5, 5+4, 6+3 | 4 | Nine |
| 10 | 4+6, 5+5, 6+4 | 3 | Ten |
| 11 | 5+6, 6+5 | 2 | Eleven (yo) |
| 12 | 6+6 | 1 | Boxcars |
The 7 is the most common roll at 6 out of 36, which is exactly why it ends so many bets on the table. The 2 and 12 are the rarest at 1 out of 36 each, which is also why craps propositions on those numbers pay the most.
Rolling Dice in Craps With the Dice Roller
The fastest way to practice craps without a physical table is to use the Dice Roller as a stand-in for the shooter's hand. Set it to two standard six-sided dice, roll, and read the total. The tool handles the randomness so you can focus on rules, bets, and the rhythm of a craps hand.
- Open the Dice Roller tool in your browser and select the d6 (six-sided) die type — craps only uses standard cube dice, so no exotic shapes are needed.
- Set the dice count to 2 using the minus and plus stepper. Craps always uses exactly two dice, never one and never three.
- Press the Roll button. The tool will display both individual die faces and their combined total in one result.
- Read the total as the craps outcome: 7 or 11 is a natural, 2/3/12 is craps, and anything else is a potential point number.
- Repeat rolls as needed during a come-out sequence. Continue rolling until the point repeats (Pass Line win) or a 7 appears (seven-out, end of the shooter's turn).
- Glance at the recent history panel to review the last several rolls, which helps you spot short streaks or verify that the tool is producing varied results.
Why Virtual Dice Work for Practicing Craps
A good craps practice tool should give you fair, unpredictable results that match the math of two physical d6 dice. The Dice Roller does exactly that — it rolls each die independently and sums the faces, so the distribution of totals follows the same 36-combination model that casinos use to build their odds. For a broader look at rolling different die types, the d4 to d20 rolling guide walks through the same tool for tabletop games.
Virtual rolling is also useful when you want to study probability rather than gamble. You can run hundreds of simulated come-out rolls, log the totals, and confirm for yourself that 7 appears about once every six throws on average. That kind of repetition is impractical with physical dice but trivial with a browser tool.
Etiquette and Practical Tips for Real Craps Rolls
If you eventually graduate from the virtual tool to a real table, the physical act of rolling matters almost as much as the numbers. Casinos expect the shooter to throw both dice with one hand, have them bounce off the far wall of the table, and keep the dice on the felt. A short, flat toss that doesn't hit the back wall is usually called "no roll" by the stickman.
You also never handle the dice with both hands and you never slide them. A clean one-handed toss that hits the back wall satisfies the rules and keeps the game moving. Practicing your grip and wrist motion at home, even with a single practice die, makes your first real roll smoother.
Common Craps Bets Tied to the Dice
Every craps wager is a prediction about which totals the dice will produce before a 7 ends the hand. The Pass Line bet wins on a 7 or 11 come-out and loses on 2, 3, or 12. Once a point is set, it wins if the point repeats before a 7 and loses if a 7 appears first. Place bets let you back individual numbers — 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 — and pay different odds depending on how easy each total is to roll.
Hardways bets are a fun variation: you win if the chosen total (4, 6, 8, or 10) comes up as a pair, like 3+3 for hard six, and lose if it comes up any other way or a 7 rolls first. Proposition bets in the center of the table target single-roll outcomes such as any 7, any craps, or specific pairs, and they pay the highest odds because they are the rarest events. If you want a casual way to make decisions the same way a die would, the roll dice for yes or no guide shows how even-odd rolls can replace a coin flip.
Building a Practice Routine With Virtual Rolls
One of the best ways to learn craps is to simulate full hands with the dice tool, not just isolated rolls. Start each session by rolling once for the come-out. If the result is 7 or 11, record the win and roll again for a new come-out. If it is 2, 3, or 12, record the loss and roll again. If it is a point number, keep rolling and track each subsequent outcome until the point repeats or a 7 appears.
After twenty or thirty simulated hands you will start to see how often shooters seven-out quickly versus how often they grind through long point cycles. That intuition is hard to build from reading rules alone but very easy to build from a few minutes of repeated rolling.
Related reading: How to Make Math Worksheets With an Answer Key.