Why Street Dice Continues to be so Popular

*Click to read the affiliate disclaimer*

(Last Updated On: )

Street dice is a classic game that you may not have come across before. Perhaps you know it by its other names – street craps or shooting dice? Even if you have not heard of it, when you see the game played, you can be sure that you will recognise it. If you have ever played craps in a casino then you can look at this game as being a very close relative and one that you’ll love to play.

Part of the appeal here is that street dice rules are simple and you can get playing with just a pair of dice and any flat surface to play on. If you want to know what makes this game so popular, and if you want to know more about how to play, then read on.

What is street dice exactly?

If you know anything about the history of gambling then you’ll know that dice games are some of the oldest forms of gambling around. There are claims that you can find the first dice games as far back as 3,000 BC when the dice would be made from bones or pebbles. There are even references to these types of games in the Bible. The simplicity of the games, and the lack of the need for any complicated equipment, meant that they were instantly popular.

The name street dice comes from the fact that people were used to playing dice games outside, in the open. There wasn’t the need for casinos or any tables. Although there are many similarities with craps, street dice is a more casual game that can be played spontaneously whenever you want to.

So, how do you play street dice?

One of the reasons that street dice continues to be so popular is that it is so simple. All that you need to get going are two players and two regular dice. Once you have these then you’re good to go and can play practically anywhere that you have a flat surface.

As you play the game, one of the players will be the shooter. This means that they are the one who rolls the dice. Anyone else is classed as an onlooker. There can be an unlimited number of onlookers so it is a game where plenty of people can get involved.

What are the rules of street dice?

The game works by betting on the likelihood that a player will roll a certain number before 7 or 11. This is how the rules look:

Rolling a 7 or 11 is classed as a ‘pass’. If the shooter rolls 2, 3, or 12 then they ‘don’t pass’

It is up to the shooter how much that they want to wager and bet on the outcome of the first roll – it will either be a ‘pass’ or ‘don’t pass’

The onlookers joining in need to match the shooter’s wager

The shooter then rolls the dice. If the dice don’t add up to a ‘pass’ or ‘don’t pass’ the number rolled is known as ‘the point’

The other players now get to bet on whether or not the shooter will roll ‘the point’ again before they ‘pass’

As soon as the shooter rolls either ‘the point’ or ‘pass’ the game ends
The onlookers can place side bets throughout based on the number that the shooter will roll next

Is this just the same as craps?

There are certainly plenty of things that street dice and craps have in common, but street dice lacks the formality that is attached to playing craps. There is no need for a table or a banker when playing street dice. What keeps the game so popular is that the players monitor the game themselves with no one else interfering. This is a game that has been popular for centuries and there is no chance of that changing anytime soon.