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Online Craps History

The wonderful game of Craps has a colourful and vibrant past…delving into mystical eastern adventures, gaining classical fame and becoming part of the most famous rush for gold the world has ever seen.

There are few gaming researchers who disagree that Craps has strong links to the ancient game of Hazard, supposedly invented by the regally named Englishman, Sir William of Tyre and his battling knights, during the bloody crusades in the East. Rumour has it that the crusaders were battling against a town or castle named Hazarth, a name that was to become Hazard. However, there are also some feelings that the story is a bit of a myth, and that the true name of Hazard is derived from the Arabic word Azzah (meaning ‘dice’) – in which case perhaps the game was simply adopted by the Crusaders and brought home from their battles… and the myth made a great story!

Hazard went on to gain such immense fame in England that it’s even written about in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. While there were underground Hazard games throughout the 1800’s, plush gaming houses held exclusive Hazard games for the gentile classes – where notorious fortunes were won and lost on the throw of the dice!

So, just who was responsible for changing the game of Hazard into Craps? The answer may have a Gallic or African twist, but no one can say for sure…

The French are charged with destroying the name of Hazard and changing it to Craps (naming it after the losing 2, which is known as crabs). However, many feel that it was the famous flood of migrants who took the English and French dice games to the Americas that was really the beginning of Craps as we know it today – so Craps may be a melting pot of the two cultures.

Legend has it that once delivered to America the games were adopted by the African American community, who called their new game, Craps – in fact the American slang for Crapshooting and dice play is ‘African Dominoes’.

What’s known for sure is that the game was ignited in the Deep South and spread like wild fire on the Mississippi riverboats, gaining fame and notoriety along the way.

Unsurprisingly the fame of Craps led to many entrepreneurs latching onto the game’s potential, and the ‘daddy’ of modern Craps is considered to be dice maker John Winn – the man responsible for altering the game to allow gamers to wager with the shooter or go against them. Furthermore, this unique development negated the use of crooked dice, a factor which had blighted Craps’ legitimacy. Winns’ Craps became the foundations of the table layouts and rules adopted by today’s on and offline casinos.

Craps has always had a touch of Hollywood about it, and the game’s often used in blockbusting movies to portray the glamour of casino gaming – it’s come a long way since that battle with the castle! Go on – throw the dice.