According to the survey done by the Association of American Card Manufacturers in November of 1940 the eight most popular card games in America are: (Jacoby and Morehead, p.18)
WOMEN
Contract Bridge 47%
Auction 18%
Pinochle 11%
Rummy 7%
500 6%
Poker 5%
Whist 3%
Solitare 2%
Hearts 1%
MEN
Contract 30%
Poker 22%
Pinochle 21%
Auction 10%
Rummy 6%
500 4%
Whist 3%
Hearts 2%
Solitare 2%
Craps Manual (from Time Capsule/1944, Copyright: Time Inc, 1967) :
John Scarne a professional magician and gambling authority for YANK magizine who worked out the odds for the armed forces number 1 sport, craps. He printed 2,000,000 copies of the odds for service men to paste in there helmets.
Scarne’s Table:
Against Passing:
6 to 5 (˘30 to ˘35) againist 6 or 8
3 to 2 (˘15 to ˘10) against 5 to 9
2 to 1 (˘10 to ˘5) against 4 or 10
8 to1 (˘40 to ˘5) against double 2 or 5
10 to 1 (˘50 to ˘5) against double 3 or 4
On the Come out (First-Roll)
35 to 1 ($1.75 to ˘5) against double numbers
17 to 1 (˘85 to ˘5) against 11
11 to 1 (˘55 to ˘5) against 4 or 10
8 to 1 (˘40 to ˘5) against 5 or 9
8 to 1 (˘40 to ˘5) against crap (2, 3, 12)
5 to 1 (˘25 to ˘5) against 7
Scarne figures that craps is an almost perfect gambling game: the shooter has a 49,293% chance of winning.
Other Scarne conclusions: 1) soliders gamble $300 million a month. 2) most of their games are on the level
HOW TO PLAY:
Craps is thought to have been brought to new Orleans by French settlers, its an offshoot of the British game Hazard.
Players: 2 or more
Equipment: 2 dice, counters and a backstop (optional)
Duration: seconds to hours (all depends on how long you want to play)
Starting the Play:
Players gather around a level surface (books as a backstop). The players decide what the max. bet will be. The first player (known as the shooter) says the amount he will bet, puts the numbers of counters (or money) into the center and in the language or craps says, “ I’ll shoot three.” This means the shooter has a bet of three counters to win. At this point other players have the option to fade, or bet against the shooter by covering the bet and putting their money with the shooters (in the pot or kitty).
One player can fade the whole bet or several can cover parts of it. Any part of the shooters orginal stake that is not covered must be withdrawn (dragged down) before the dice are rolled and no more counters must be bet than are in the shooters orginal bet.
RULES:
There are no offical rules, but it is customary that no one can touch the dice until they have stopped and until everyone betting has seen them. It a dice is cocked, that is, resting in such a way that it is doubtful which face is uppermost, than the throw is declared void.
If the first roll is a 7 or 11 (a natural), the shooter wins.
If it is a 2, 3, or 12 (craps) the shooter loses.
If it is a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 the shooter has to “make point” that is to roll again and again until the same number is rolled. If the shooter throws a 7 before he “makes point”, the bet is lost and the dice pass to the player on the left. The shooter can voluntarily pass on the dice at anytime between rolls.
WINNING:
If the shooter wins he takes all the money in the pot if the shooter loses, those players who faded each take double the amount of money they put in the pot. (their orginal bet plus the shooters stake). If, for example the shooter has bet three counters and two players have bet one counter and two counters respectivly, the player who has bet one counter takes 2 counters the player who bet 2 takes 4.
In addition to the shooters opening stake and faders’ bets, players can alos be amoung themselves as to whether or not the shooter will win (come right) or lose (come wrong).
For example, after rolling a point, a shooter might make a bet to come right (win) on the next series of rolls. If for instance the shooter rolls a point of 5, he makes a come bet, than rolls an 11, this has no effect on the main bets in the pot. Which can only won by a 5 or a 7 --but it wins the “side bet: so to speak amoung other the other players because 11 is a natural and the throw is functioning as a a first roll.
