Beyond the normal chip switching and cheaters trying to swindle fellow players, cheating at craps is as close to impossible as you can get and it comes with some pretty heavy consequences. That being said, it's been tried. The bottom examples are the coolest ways I've heard of to cheat at craps.
Switching the Die:
Switching the Die was the old method of cheating. The Shooter would palm the die and switch them out for leaded die that are wieghted to give a more consistant roll for the shooter. A couple of things make this difficult now. The first being that now there are 4 casino employees watching your every move, not to mention the 100′s of cameras that are watching your every move. They also alter up the die with some regularity. If the die are found to be unbalanced (because they weigh them) the video tapes from the day are reviewed and the shooter that switched the die is apprehended. On the old riverboat casino of the south, when they found someone cheating at craps, they would actually pull over the boat and string him up.
| Floaters or Floats | ||
| Hollowing out the inside of these dice result in a lighter weight. The hollow spot in the middle is put off-center, as to make the die more likely to land on a particular number. They get the name “floaters” because they will float when placed into a glass of water. |  |
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| Tappers | ||
| Like floaters, the inside of these dice have been hollowed, but this time in the shape of a dumbbell. One end of the hollow is located in the center; other end stretches to a corner of the die the cheater wants to favor…a few drops of mercury are then inserted into the hollow. By default, the mercury will reside in the center of the die, make them appear to roll normally, but with a little tap in the right position, the cheater can then move the mercury to corner chamber, altering the spin of the dice to their favor. | ||
| Shaved Dice | ||
| A specific side of the dice has been machined down slightly. The idea is that you are then creating a more rectangular shape, rather than square. Untouched sides of the dice are left having less surface-area. In theory, the effect is that the shaved side is more likely to show than the others. | ||
| Raised-Edge | ||
| A little lip is added to one or more sides of the dice, making them slightly concave. This modification will also increase surface area as well as help the dice to grip the table. |  |
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| Painted Dice | ||
| A clear substance is painted onto a specific side of the dice; this substance is usually activated by moisture, allowing the cheater to activate it by blowing onto the dice before throwing. When activated, the substance becomes slightly sticky and allows the doctored surface of the dice to essentially stick to the felt. | ||
| Slick Dice | ||
| Certain sides of these dice have been scuffed, other sides polished. The idea is that roughed faces will catch on felt; polished sides will roll with less friction, allowing cheating at craps by manipulating the roll. | ||
| Mis-spotted Dice | ||
| On standard dice, you will find that opposing sides have spots that add up to seven. Mis-spotted dice (a.k.a. “tops”, “bottoms”, “horses” or “tees”) will have identical opposing faces, making it virtually impossible to roll anything other than a seven, a very obvious way of cheating at craps. | ||
| Capped-Dice | ||
| In this case, one of the sides have been shaved down and replaced with a material that is a bit more elastic. The end result is that the dice are more likely to bounce off of capped side and land upon a non-capped sided. When done by a skilled hand, the capped side of the die is virtually unnoticeable, but by pressing a thumbnail into doctored surface…even an amateur can tell something is not right. |  |
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| Raised spots | ||
| In this cheat, a specific dot located on a particular side of the dice is raised; they are otherwise level with the rest of the cube. When thrown, the raised spot is meant to encourage the dice to roll off of the doctored side. |
Stacking the Die:
I love this one. The shooter would arrange the die in the palm of his hand for the number he wants to show on the table. He makes a big deal of shaking his fist and hurling the die across the table. What the shooter is actually doing is sliding the die down the table. The Casinos combated this by changing the table. First there is a ridge on the table near the end that will make the die pop-up and flip in the air. Second the egg carton foam on the sides of the table create a completely random bounce off the far wall. Boxman will disallow a roll if the roll does not bounce off the far wall.
Past Posting:
This form of cheating simply involves placing a bet on the table following the dice actually landing on the table, I’d say it’s probably the most common form of cheating at craps and it has its obvious benefits. For example: One could ask a dealer for change immediately when dice have been rolled, and as you are being given change…you could drop your chips on winning spots after the dice have settled.
How Casinos Prevent You From Cheating At Craps:
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Casinos make an effort to swap dice every 8 hours on average. So if you somehow manage to introduce loaded dice into the game, they unfortunately will not be operating very long.
- In an effort to further address cheating at craps, casinos now train croupiers to spot players that have suspicious throwing methods and patterns. If you have trained enough that you can throw dice while maintaining an edge over the house, then you should probably make an effort to mi up your throwing styles.
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You may only handle dice with one hand, if you’ve ever “cupped” the dice in both hands before throwing you’d know it, because the casino staff would address it quickly & firmly. On top of that: dice must always be handled above the table, and if they happen to fall off the table after being thrown, they are inspected/measured & replaced if necessary, making it very difficult to swap the dice.
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The “eye in the sky” the all-seeing round-the-clock crew of trained professionals, backed by the latest in surveillance equipment & techniques, constantly scanning the casino floors in search of people attempting to gain an edge over the house, they are by far…a craps cheaters biggest problem.