My advice was geared to getting the dealers on your side and helping you to understand the game and win (based upon many years of dealing craps).
5-6-8-9 represent exactly 1/2 of all possible outcomes on any roll.
True, betting 2 numbers can be boring if they aren't hitting, though 6 and 8 are the most likely to hit. When I was a pass line bettor, I would try and play 3 numbers but now I am mostly a place bettor so I want the lowest house edge when I place and try to run it up.
From Wizard of Odds
Pass pays 1 to 1, house edge 1.41%
Place 6 and 8 | 7 to 6 | 1.52% |
Place 5 and 9 | 7 to 5 | 4% |
Place 4 and 10 | 9 to 5 | 6.67% |
So you lose a little bit on placing 6 and 8 vs betting the pass line but you get to pick the numbers you want to play and when and you have the option to take your bets down anytime you feel like quitting, whereas you can never take down a Pass line bet until you win or lose. Big jump though on placing 5 and 9. Expected rolls to win/lose your bet is every 3.27 rolls for placing 6/8 vs 3.38 rolls for Pass so you still get a fair amount of action.
As long as the table is not too busy any dealer will be happy to explain the game without you needing to feed them money. Craps is a social game though so I wouldn't recommend an empty table because it is boring rolling the dice all the time and the game goes very quick. But if the table is empty, without playing, the dealers will still probably be willing to explain how the game goes.
But yeah craps is the only game where people genuinely cheer for the shooter because everyone wins or loses on that roll. You can bet against the shooter and yeah the odds are infinitesimally better but only a true nit would bet against the shooter. If people are betting against the shooter, odds are the table won't be fun and I will find another table. After/during a hot roll, players will actually toss money/make bets for the shooter to say thanks. Name me another casino game where this happens! I mean it's nice when someone at your table hits a blackjack but it doesn't affect you in any way. But when you roll a hard 10 and someone has a black chip on that bet, you bet they are pretty happy for you.
Dealers usually like to be in the game. At the end of a session if I have been winning or if the dealers have been particularly good or helpful I call out "all the hard ways for the dealers" and toss $4 out to the stickman. The stickman handles all the center bets. Then if a hard number comes up, the dealers get a nice tip. (22, 33, 44, 55). Best I ever did was a win on all 4 hard ways for a $36 tip. Of course you don't have to make bets for the dealers, you can toss whatever tip you want on the table and say "for the crew".
More than the game of golf there are a myriad of superstitions involved. Virgin shooters for some reason seem to be extra lucky. If the dice roll off the table, you get new dice, unless you call "same dice". It is considered bad luck to change the dice mid-roll so always do this. It is bad luck if you hit a chip with your dice on the throw. It is bad luck to say "7" at a table as this roll loses the game. If you need to talk about "7" at the table, always call it "big red".
But nothing matches the excitement of craps. In my lifetime I have witnessed the table require a fill twice and a third time they should have filled but the casino was closing shortly and they didn't want to bring more chips. The players trays were full and they were stuffing extra chips in their pants. The casino was actually colouring up the chips in the trays to $500s so they could continue to make payouts. Craziness!