That’s a question they seem to be asking in Las Vegas. Now I don’t except to see the craps tables around the world changing any time soon. But take a look at a craps table. If you’ve never played before, you probably have one question – huh, what am I supposed to do? See, craps is sort of a casino game with a split personality. Every knows that you’re supposed to roll dice and hope for box cars. Or that two aces is snake eyes. Terms from craps games have made it into our cultural vocabulary. But most of us have no idea what to do when confronted with an actual craps game. Is snake eyes good or bad? Why doesn’t it say “snake eyes” anywhere on the table? Why does it say “Pass” and “Don’t Pass”? What’s a point? How the heck do I play this game?
Craps is a game for a dedicated gambler. Or at least for one dedicated enough to figure out the layout of the table and know what type of bet to place when. The problem is that Las Vegas casinos are too big to be able to depend on just dedicated gamblers for their money. They need to appeal to the casual player and to offer those players more games than just slots that can be played and picked up in an evening.
So, some Vegas casinos are betting on a new game called Scossa. Scossa is based on craps in the sense that it involves a player rolling dice while other players can bet on what number will turn up on dice. So, it’s a social game like craps, baccarat or roulette. But Scossa has massively simplified the craps table. Gone are the Pass and Don’t Pass line. Now players simply choose what number or numbers they want to bet on a simpler table structure and the dice are rolled. So far the game seems to be gaining followers, but I haven’t seen an online version yet. Still I’m checking places like # to see if anyone has the 411 on an online Scossa game.