How Card Craps Works in California

In the version of Card Craps examined here, the dice select card positions, and the selected card values are added to produce the official result used to settle bets. This guide examines the detailed version in the Pechanga player guide dated March 15, 2017; always check the live table rules before playing.

Card Craps is a family of implementations, not one procedure used throughout California. In this version, keep three things separate: physical dice faces, selected card values, and the official result. The physical dice total alone does not determine whether a bet wins.

How Dice Become a Card Result

Each die selects a position, not a card value: read the dice face, find the corresponding position, and then add the selected card values.

According to the official Pechanga player guide, the game uses two separate six-card sets, one red and one blue. Each contains card values 1–6. A machine shuffles one set, and the cards are placed face up in marked positions 1–6.

Read the result in this order:

1. The shooter rolls two six-sided dice.
2. The first die identifies the first card position.
3. The second die identifies the second card position.
4. The selected card values are added.
5. That card total determines how bets are settled.

The guide calls the physical dice “RNGs.” This is the document's term for the objects being rolled, not a reference to a software random number generator.

The examples below use three card layouts. Each cell contains a card value; each column heading identifies its position.

For example, in Layout A, dice faces 1 and 5 select card values 2 and 5. The official result is 7, even though the physical dice total is 6. Adding the dice faces would give the wrong result because the cards are not arranged in numerical order.

What Happens on Doubles?

Doubles select the single card at the shared position, and its value is doubled.

In Layout C, 3–3 points to position 3, which holds card value 1. That card is pushed forward, and its value is doubled: the official result is 2, not 6. No card from a second position is selected.

Our reconstruction: in Layout A, dice faces 1 and 5 select card values 2 and 5 for an official result of 7; in Layout C, doubles 3–3 double card value 1

Our reconstruction of the mechanics described in the Pechanga guide: die → position → card value → total. This is a diagram, not a real table photograph or an official operator image.

How the Pass Line Cycle Works

Pass Line wins or loses according to the card total, not the physical dice total. Our guide to playing craps explains the standard betting cycle; here, those same phases are illustrated using card results from the selected version.

On the come-out roll, the first roll of a new cycle, Pass Line has these outcomes:

• 7 or 11: the bet wins.
• 2, 3, or 12: the bet loses.
• 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10: that number becomes the point.

Once a point is established, it must repeat before a card total of 7. Repeating the point wins Pass Line. A card total of 7 before the point loses Pass Line and is a seven out, ending the shooter's turn.

Don't Pass has the opposite outcomes, except that a card total of 12 on the come-out roll is a push: the stake is returned. A come-out 7 is not a seven out.

Sequence A: An Immediate Win, a Point, and Another Win

In Layout A, Pass Line first wins immediately, then wins again by making point 10. The shooter and card layout remain unchanged throughout.

The card values at positions 1–6 are 2, 1, 4, 6, 5, 3.

1. Come-out roll: dice 1 and 5 → cards 2 and 5 → total 7. Pass Line wins. A new come-out roll follows with the same shooter and layout.
2. New come-out roll: dice 3 and 4 → cards 4 and 6 → total 10. The point is 10.
3. With point 10: dice 2 and 5 → cards 1 and 5 → total 6. This is neither the point nor 7, so Pass Line remains unresolved and play continues.
4. With point 10: dice 3 and 4 → cards 4 and 6 → total 10. The point repeats, and Pass Line wins. Another come-out roll follows with the same shooter and layout.

Sequence B: A Point Followed by a Seven Out

In Layout B, a card total of 7 appears before point 5 repeats, so Pass Line loses and both the shooter and layout change.

The card values at positions 1–6 are 4, 6, 2, 1, 3, 5.

1. Come-out roll: dice 1 and 4 → cards 4 and 1 → total 5. The point is 5.
2. With point 5: dice 2 and 5 → cards 6 and 3 → total 9. Point 5 remains active.
3. With point 5: dice 2 and 4 → cards 6 and 1 → total 7. Pass Line loses: this is a seven out. A new shooter begins the next turn with a new layout.

Sequence C: A Come-Out Loss Does Not Change the Layout

In Layout C, a card total of 2 loses Pass Line on the come-out roll but does not end the shooter's turn. The change comes later, when a card total of 7 appears after a point has been established.

The card values at positions 1–6 are 3, 5, 1, 6, 2, 4.

1. Come-out roll: doubles 3–3 → card value 1, counted twice → total 2. Pass Line loses. This is not a seven out: the same shooter makes the next come-out roll with the same layout.
2. Next come-out roll: dice 1 and 3 → cards 3 and 1 → total 4. The point is 4.
3. With point 4: dice 2 and 5 → cards 5 and 2 → total 7. Pass Line loses; the seven out triggers a change of shooter and layout.

These three examples illustrate only the sequence of play and Pass Line settlement. They contain no stake amounts or payout rounding. The layouts are fixed in advance to make the examples reproducible, not to predict future play.

Our worked sequence diagram: Layout A wins Pass Line on 7 and point 10; Layout B ends point 5 with a seven out; Layout C starts with a total of 2, then ends point 4 with a seven out

Our worked sequence diagram shows why a resolved bet does not always end the shooter's turn. The layout changes after a seven out, not after every win or loss.

When Does the Card Layout Change?

In the selected guide, the layout changes after a seven out and a change of shooter—not after every roll or every new betting cycle.

The same shooter continues until a seven out. A new shooter then takes over, using the second card set from the shuffling machine for the next turn.

That has three practical consequences:

• An immediate Pass Line win on a card total of 7 or 11 does not change the layout.
• A Pass Line loss on a come-out card total of 2, 3, or 12 does not change the layout.
• A Pass Line win by repeating the point does not change the layout.

Do not confuse a resolved bet, one physical roll, a point cycle, and the shooter's entire turn. They can end at different times.

Which Bets Are Available Before and After the Point?

Pass Line and Don't Pass are available before the point is established. Come, Don't Come, and the associated odds bets become available after the relevant point is established. Check separately whether other bets are working on the come-out roll.

The table below describes the selected player guide, not a universal betting menu for California tables.

A Come bet has its own point. Once established, that number must repeat before 7. It does not replace the main table point.

The guide also lists one-result bets covering any of 2, 3, or 12, plus separate bets on 2, 3, 7, 11, and 12. These are settled on the next card total, not at the end of the shooter's turn.

The current Pechanga Table Games page, checked October 16, 2026, lists the named Card Craps game and “5 times odds.” That confirms the offering in the catalog, but not every detail of the 2017 guide. Before betting, check the table's posted odds limits, minimums, maximums, and payouts.

For standard payouts, use the craps payout calculator. It models the standard outcomes of two six-sided dice. It does not accept a card layout, map dice to cards, or verify the live Pechanga rules or table limits.

How Do Other California Versions Differ?

Other tables may generate card results differently, sometimes without any physical dice roll. Do not assume the procedure above applies to every game with a similar name.

The historical California DOJ Tribal Casino Advisory No. 2, dated April 30, 2004, describes a different procedure:

• Two mechanical shufflers are used.
• Each contains six cards, ace through six.
• One card comes from each machine, and their values establish the point.
• The cards are returned before the next draw.
• No physical dice roll is required.

This is a historical informational document, not current Pechanga instructions or legal advice.

Other versions use a shared multi-deck shoe, draws without immediate replacement, colored card sets, or different dice-to-card mappings. Those versions can differ in when cards are shuffled and in their outcome probabilities.

The legal context also cannot be reduced to “dice are illegal in California.” The official compilation of California gambling laws, updated through October 1, 2026, includes constitutional and criminal-law provisions that draw complex distinctions between prohibited casino games and gaming on tribal lands under state compacts. This guide explains the mechanics; it does not determine the legality of a particular table.

What Does Checking All 36 Dice Pairs Show?

For the three layouts above, the distribution of card totals matches the sum distribution of two ordinary six-sided dice. This finding applies to a one-to-one arrangement of six unique card values, 1–6, selected by independent, fair six-sided dice.

A verification script checked all 36 ordered pairs of physical dice faces for each layout. For totals 2–12, every layout produced these counts:

The reason is straightforward: the layout is a one-to-one permutation of values 1–6. Each dice face is simply assigned a different value through its card. All six values remain equally likely, so the distribution of their sum stays the same.

This does not mean every Card Craps implementation has the same mathematics. The finding does not automatically apply to a multi-deck shoe without immediate card replacement. Nor does it establish identical payouts, limits, available bets, or rules across tables.

What Should You Check Before Your First Bet?

Before betting, follow at least one result from dice to cards and confirm the live rules. Use this short checklist:

1. Find positions 1–6 and read the active cards. Check whether there are exactly six unique values or a different system.
2. Confirm the official result and how doubles work. Ask exactly which values are added.
3. Ask when the layout changes. A change after a seven out and new shooter, after every turn, or after every card draw describes different procedures.
4. Check the point and its status marker. Separately confirm whether Place to Win bets and hardways are working on the come-out roll.
5. Check odds bets, minimums, maximums, and payouts. Use the specific table's posted limits and rules, not a historical limit in the guide.
6. Follow one demonstration result. Identify the dice faces, selected positions, card values, and only then the official total.

The key habit is to stop automatically adding the dice. Read the position-to-card mapping first: it explains why visible dice faces of 1 and 5 can produce an official result of 7.