A new game at Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln (Placer County) is changing the way Californians play the fast-paced dice game of craps.

Nevada gaming law, or as the stickman put it, 'some kind of compromise,' has no influence on craps in California. The real reason you came upon this form of craps is that California law prohibits casino game outcomes from being determined by dice (craps), and Indian casinos must abide by those same regulations. While the game's random number generator actually classifies the device as a slot machine, the action looks and feels enough like craps to satisfy the urge until that next trip to Nevada. Craps in California Is Played with Playing Cards, Not Dice In some states, it’s illegal to use certain devices for gambling purposes. Until recently, Oklahoma didn’t allow spinning wheels or dice, but it did allow cards. In California, gambling law does not allow the outcome of craps to be directly determined by the use of dice. For this reason many California casinos totally eliminate dice. Cards are used to determine the numbers 'rolled.' Most of these casinos take care to make sure that the odds of their games are exactly the same as traditional random craps. Above: Interblock’s 3-Sided Center Display, 8-Seat “Organic Craps” Notice that the Interblock pictures have three dice in the bubble. The machine is designed so the casino can determine whether to set it strictly for craps (which uses two dice), or to include the game of sic bo (which uses three dice).

Most craps tables in our home state incorporate cards or bouncing balls - alternatives that satisfy state gaming laws that prohibit the outcome of a betting game to be determined exclusively by dice.

This new game, manufactured by a company called Vegas Star and distributed by ShuffleMaster, was unveiled last month and turns tradition on its head.

Like a cross between a Wii game and a casino from Second Life, the experience is a combination of hardware and random-number-generating software that creates a virtual craps table where players manipulate simulated dice and electronic chips.

To play, bettors sit in front of individual touch screens that depict a snapshot of betting options. Whenever a shooter 'throws' the dice - accomplished by flicking two fingers forward against the touch screen - the ensuing roll plays out on a 42-inch plasma flat-screen television that the individual stations face.

On the surface, the game simulates the actual game of craps fairly well. Rolling a seven is still considered 'crapping out,' and basic wagers mirror those you can make in a Nevada casino. There's even a portion of the screen to wager side bets.

Still, at least in these early stages, there are some pretty significant differences between Vegas Star electronic craps and the real deal.

For starters, real tables let players press their place and come bets as much as two, three or four times the amount of the original wager - getting true odds for those extra bets without any advantage to the casino.

At Thunder Valley, however, the maximum amount of odds a player can press on his or her place and come bets is two times the original wager.

David DeLucia, a former Las Vegas craps dealer who is now the facility's vice president of casino operations, says that because people are still learning the game, the casino 'wanted to set it up so their bankroll would last a little longer.' What DeLucia didn't mention, of course, is that slimmer odds also benefit the casino - the less a player can win per roll, the more the casino gets to keep.

Other major differences between the real game and the virtual game revolve around the dice themselves. In the physical world, throwing small resin squares is something most of us can do without incident. But in the alternate craps reality of VegasStar, it takes players a while to get the hang of 'throwing' the dice.

On a recent weeknight, I watched one man repeatedly slam the tips of his fingers against the top of his touch screen as he tried to roll. His assessment: 'Fun but damaging to the fingers.'

Don't let this scare you; with $1 minimums, Thunder Valley's new craps game is worth a try. While the game's random number generator actually classifies the device as a slot machine, the action looks and feels enough like craps to satisfy the urge until that next trip to Nevada.

Once a month this column will address specific strategy and table etiquette questions from readers. Submit questions to 96hours@sfchronicle.com.

Nextshooter is a Craps Dealer on the World Famous Las Vegas Strip. You can find more interesting information if you visit the the Nextshooter site.

California Craps with Cards

The Bone Man recently visited the Cache Creek Casino, North of Oakland and North West of Sacramento off of Highway 16 and provides this review of Craps as played with playing cards.

CACHE CREEK

Two Tables
$5 to $500
Field Pays 2X on 2 and ONLY 2X on 12
Proposition Bets are DOWNTOWN ODDS (example… 2 and 12 pay 30 TO 1)
Table Odds (FREE ODDS) are 3, 4 and 5X Odds and are not posted.
Shuffle Machine located in rack next to STICKMAN.

Shuffle Machine releases TWO CARDS which are placed in RED and BLUE Rectangles, Face down. Then, releases the REMAINDER OF THE DECK.

Dice are thrown by SHOOTER. One BLUE die. and one RED die.

Result Card is turned on COLORED RECTANGLE from HIGHEST NUMBERED DIE.

Colored dice are special dice, one RED and one BLUE, with pips (dots) designed so that there is NO HARDWAY (tie) possible… Always allowing one or the other to total higher than the opposite one.

Cards are pictured to show the RESULT of TWO DICE. 36 card decks. One Blue deck, One Red deck, with each card having two pictures (domino-like), representing the possibility of 36 results of two dice combination.

Cards are shuffled after each roll (card result).

Cards are replaced with new cards every FOUR hours.

Cards are manufactured by GEMACO CARD COMPANY.

Dealer procedures are the same as on any standard craps table for the BASE DEALERS.

Only the STICKMAN procedure differs from a standard craps game as the stickperson has to manage the rotation of the two decks and the placement and turn of the result card.

CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS

After a brief introduction to this game it seems as though it moves very deliberately and very much like a standard craps game. The only major difference is that the player (s) need to get accustomed to the turn of the RESULT card as paying attention to the result of the DICE is somewhat academic as it has NO effect on TAKE, PAY or PLACE on the table wagers. It is the TURNED CARD that determines the RESULT.

The speed and service factors of the game seem only slightly slower than on a standard craps table.

Craps Machine In California

It was observed and concluded that the tossing of the dice is as much a stalling factor to allow the stickperson to manage the shuffling and rotation of the two card decks and the card turn as it is certainly not the exciting prelude to a RESULT as it is in the standard game.

Bubble Craps Machine In California

The Cache Creek Casino and Hotel is a first class facility and rivals many Vegas properties in accommodations and number of table games. The gaming traffic of players was very high and measurable as witnessed on a weekday in the early afternoon.

California Craps as played at Cache Creek is the same game played at the Pala Casino in Southern California..