The No Roll – Circumstances When A Throw Becomes A No Roll At The Craps Table

No Roll

Every craps player knows what the stickman does. He gives the dice to the shooter and calls the roll after the shot. Sounds pretty easy right? As long as the stickman can correctly add two numbers with a value of six or less the game is on. There are times where the stickman must make a decision that affects the game. These decisions have rules that the stickman must follow to remove any prejudice from the equation. Let’s take a look at some of these situations.

One or both dice bounce into the chip rail and remain in full view of the stickman. No roll is called and the dice return directly to the game.

One or both dice bounce over the chip rail and out of sight of the stickman. No roll die down is called and the dice are retrieved and delivered to the boxman for inspection before they can be returned to the game.

One or both dice come to rest on top of the chip bank in front of the boxman. No roll is called and the dice are returned directly to the game.

One or both dice land in the dice bowl in front of the stickman. No roll is called and the dice can be returned directly to the game.

When one or both dice land on top of the puck or any cheques that are in play the stickman will call the total as the dice are in play and a legal roll has been recorded.

One or both dice land on the table and the come to rest on an edge, leaning against the side of the table, a stack of chips or chip, the puck, the bowl, or some other obstruction. This situation is called a "cocked" die. There are a couple of different calls that can take place in this situation. The face of the die that is most opposite the obstruction should be the called. This rule is sometimes stated as "if the obstruction is removed "and the die would be allowed to fall, that upward face would be the call.

When the stickman is confronted by a cocked die they will make the call and wait a moment before moving the die. If a player questions the call a supervisor will be called to call the total. The supervisor will make the call or they can ask for assistance from surveillance to see which side of the die is shown to be facing upward from an overhead view. Involving surveillance is a rare occurrence but can be done. When there is a question about the call the stickman will not move the dice until instructed by the supervisor to do so.

Let’s review these situations. When a die lands on top of the chip bank, in the dice bowl or in the rail and remains in full view of the stickman "no roll" is called and the dice are returned directly to the game. When the dice leave the table and the view of the stickman the call is "no roll, die down" and the offending die or dice must be inspected by a supervisor before being reintroduced to the game. When a die or dice come to rest on cheques, the puck or are cocked, a call is made and the game continues.

There is one extremely rare situation that can happen that we haven’t covered yet. Many of you will never see this strange occurrence even if you continue to play for many years because it is so rare that even most dealers have never seen it. The dice can and sometimes do land on top of one another. Yep, I’ve seen this happen TWICE! Look at the rules that I have laid out for you in the previous paragraphs and see if you can determine which rule this should be governed by.

Everyone is correct! Huh? No matter what you answered you will be correct depending on which casino you are playing in. This situation is usually decided by a preset company policy and can be called "no roll" or the top die can be lifted off of the other die and a total called. As I said I have seen it twice and once it was called no roll and the in the other instance the top die was lifted off and a total was called. Neither instance would have been a seven out so neither could have been a disaster.

The "no roll" is part of the game. Now you know what procedure will be used when you witness a "no roll" call.