The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-11-14
THE SCIENCE OF CRAPS.
Likewise the Lingo of That Charac-
teristicaIIy Southern Game.
Atlanta Constitution.

teFIStlcaIIy southern Game.
Atlanta Constitution.
Come seven-eleven"
Fade your
Cut his throat seven!'
Jimmy Hicks, take. my gal to Memphis!"
Big Dick is mine'''
Come, Little Joei
IneSe expressions are a part of the
vocabulary which accompanies any we'll
arranged sitting of the Southern darky's
great game of craps.
Throughout the entire South the game is
now probably played, although it has been
in existence only about twenty years But
Just how the name originated is not known
1t Is used in only one part of the game, on
the, very first throw, when the thrower is
said to crap out"
The rules under which the remarkable
game is played are interesting. From one
of the king crap players of Atlanta 1 have
been initiated into the mysteries of the
game, and have given all the rules here
as faithfully as if was transcribing the
new rules in whist.
ANY number of persons can shoot craps
l say shoot advisedly, for no crap player
ever uses the word play. The game is
played with two dice. The first player
places them in the hollow of his right hand
eunless he is left-handed), and shaking
them about a bit, throws them upon the
floor or the ground, generally the ground.
Before he throws he states how much he
is throwing for, usually nickel Some one
among the other players cries out:
Il fade you.''
That means the throwers money is COW
cred There then can be as many side bets
as the other players wish to make If on
the first throw the player makes seven or
eleven he wins. If he throws two, three or
twelve on the first throw he loses, or craps
out. If he throws four five, six, eight, nine
or ten, that is called his point, and he
throws again until he either makes his
point once mora or makes seven. If he
makes his point before he makes seven
he wins, but If seven comes first he loses
The thrower can hold the dice as long as
he continues to win, but when he loses he
ANY person in the game mas the right to
pick up the dice quickly when a player
that no loaded dice have been smuggled
into the game. The usual way of doing
this is for a player to reach out as the dice
fall and say:
My dice"
He examines them, blows on them, and.
tossing them back to the thrower, says:
Your dice; shoot"
If this is attempted at any other stage of
the game except on the first throw a legiti-
mate showdown of white-handled razors is
IN order. The person who offers to cover
the thrower's money is called the "fader"
Most of the betting in the game is done by
those who are standing around.
Nearly all the points on the dice are
named. Four is called Little Joe,' five is
called Phoebe or fever" six is known
as Jimmy Hicks nine is Liz" and ten is
Tom
When a game has been arranged those
who have the cash sit or stand around and
ready to shoot. He blows upon the dice,
makes an exclamation that sounds like a
deep, aspirated Abr throws the dice upon
the ground, and, they fall, snaps his
fingers sharply. This may seem like some
special trimmings, but the maneuvers are
as much part of the game as putting up
the money. When he has been faded the
outside betting begins, the thrower acting
slowly to give time for all the gamblers to
get their money up. The man who bets
with the thrower is said to like him
AS the game progresses you can hear the
thrower as he first losses the dice exclaim,
Come seven-elevenp
If he fails either to win or crap out he
will then cry, as he tries to make his point:
Come to see me. Little Joe or Big Dick
or Liz" or whatever his point may be-
The man who has faded him or who is
betting against him on the outside will say:
cut him off, seven: Cut his throat,
seven" Come under him, seven"
When Liz-that is nine-is first thrown.
the player always exclaims: Liz is the gal
for me-"
The words which accompany Jimmy
Hicks. a throw of six, are: big Six, take
my gal to Memphis
A smooth place on the ground is always
preferable to the floor of a room. A table is
entirely out of the question Many times
gang of negro gamblers will play the
sidewalk under the glare of an electric light,
and boys are stationed in the middle of
each block to keep watch for the APP
preach of policeman and to give a signal
If ore is seen coming.
The game is played by the old and the
young. in the country and in the cities, by
railroad hands and deck hands the river
steamboats,. Negroes in the large cities
know scarcely any other sort of gambling
The steamboat hands play night and day
and they have been known to return after
a long trip with every cent or their earnings
gone into the pockets of the lucky players.
Here in Atlanta there are all sorts of
crap shooters. including the big gamblers
and the small boys who will shoot for any
thing of value, often the clothes on their
backs Hardly a. week passes without some
place. usually an alley. being raided and
gambling cannot be broken up.
Craps has come among the Southern
darkies of a sporty nature to stay, and as
long as they can get hold of a pair of dice
and have the coin, they will WOO the god
dess of fortune, with prayers for the lucky
seven-eleven.