Craps is a very popular casino dice game in which gamblers place wager on the result of the roll, or a collection of rolls, using a pair of dice. Originally, the game of craps was played on the streets with very varied rules.

Despite the fact that the beginnings of the game of craps are extremely unclear and shrouded in mystery, it is believed that the history of craps can be traced back to around the time of the First Crusades in the 1100s. It is commonly believed that 12th century historian, Sir William Tyre, and his knights were the originators of the game during their military expedition in response to Islam. Those who believe this said that Tyre and his followers invented this game as a form of relaxation when they were laying siege to a castle in 1125 AD. The castle’s name was Hazarth, which originates from the Arabic word al zar or azzahr, which means dice. As time passes, the name Hazarth became Hazard.

Those who do not believe this theory said that Craps began in the earliest civilization in Egypt. Still others have claimed that its roots dated back to the times of the height of the Roman Empire. They said that the Emperors Caesar and Caligula were known to be dice players, as were a great number of their contemporaries. It is thought that Roman legionnairies whiled away the hours playing this game with shaved down pig knuckles, which had been shaped into cubes – similar to a dice. They used to throw these cubes into their upside down shields.

Hazard, on the other hand, was invented by an Englishman and was mentioned a number of times in the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. The formal rules of hazard were first established in the first part of the Eighteenth century by a well-known French mathematician, Pierre Remond de Montmort. It was believed that the French changed the name Hazard to Craps. Others believe that Craps originated in America, which was first introduced by Bernand Xavier as a street game among the people of New Orleans. Street craps may be played by rolling the dice against a back-stop, such as a curb or stair-stoop, or without a back-stop, at the choice of the players.

As World War Two progressed, street-style craps became increasingly popular among the armed forces, who often played the game using an Army blanket as a shooting surface. Even now in the contemporary African American community, the game of street craps is generally called shooting dice, and is played on the floor or on a sidewalk, often without a back-stop. By the early part of the twentieth century, Craps became the most popular of all casino gambling games. The name Craps refers primarily to the casino version of the game that iwas now being played on a marked felt surface on a table. A man named John H. Winn later developed its rules and introduced the “don’t pass” betting choice in order to mitigate the flaws in its original game and this is the version of craps that is still in existence today.

By Jimmy Haines
You can now play real money craps at reputable online casinos and can find real cash casinos where the game is on offer for a variety of stakes.