Craps History

When you're rolling the dice on the craps table, excited and eager to win, do you ever wonder how it all began? Who invented the game you like so much? You want to know what the best kept craps secrets are, And what on earth does this name mean? Well, here's your chance to find out. Are you ready for the trip?

The history of craps began in England of the 18th century, as a game called "Hazard". The game was played by the young, fashionable men - the ones whose families could afford paying for the luxurious, private gaming clubs.

In the beginning of each round, the Hazard banker (or the setter) set a stake. Once he did that, the player, or caster, called a main (which is a number ranged between 5-9) and rolled two dice. Had he "nicked" (managed to get his main value in the dice - as a number, a total or an equal value - for instance, 8 is nicked by either 8 or 12, and 7 is also nicked by 11), the player would win the stake.

The meaning of the name Craps is related, surprisingly, to the loss of bets. A caster automatically lost the stake when rolling deuce-ace (1,1 - snake eyes, or in their old nickname - "Crabs" which later became "Craps"), or a number which "opposed" his main according to the game rules. Had the shooter rolled a different number than the mentioned above, he had a "chance shot". The chance shots would go on until the caster rolled either his chance number which won him the bet, or his main number, which lost him the bet. When a chance was rolled, the setter had to pay more than the 2:1 ratio for the original stake, all according to a table of odds which were calculated long, long ago.

In the 19th century, the Hazard game invaded France, where it was referred as "French Hazard", or simply "Crabs", which had been mispronounced as "Craps", giving the game its current name. The main modification in the game rules was that in the French version the player rolled against the house, while the English version is a player vs. player version.

It wasn't too long before the craps found its way to the newly discovered America. The settlers brought their dice along to the new world, and soon enough a new, simplified version of craps had been formed by Bernard de Mandeville in 1813. This variation of the game, or later versions of it, has developed to be what we know today as "Private Craps" (for an explanation of Private craps in continue to craps games at craps777.com.) This makes the craps casino game an American-originated game.

During the 1830's, craps had spread in America, from the Mississippi River throughout the entire country. The game was incredibly vulnerable against fixed dice (which were used quite commonly at that time), since the only bets in it were "field" and "come" bets.

In 1865 a new, improved version of craps was published by John H. Winn, a dice-maker. In the new craps game, one could choose whether to bet for or against the roller, which reduced the efficiency of fixed dice. Winn's variation for the game led, in time, to the craps version which is played today.

By 1910, craps had conquered America east to west, and became the most popula-r game in casinos all around the world. In the 21st century, craps is still very popular and is played in casinos (both land-based and online casinos) and homes. The number of craps gamblers grows each year, and the stakes can get enormous. A good player can win thousands of dollars in almost no time, on a lucky day.

Games with dice are the oldest gambling games. Even Roman emperors such as Nero, Caligula, and Augustin played dice games. The ancient Indian Epic "Mahabharata" describes warriors who lost their fortunes throwing dice. Archeologists discovered cubes used as dice in Egypt which date back to 600 B.C.. In the Americas, the Native Americans used four-sided knuckle bones as dice. There is linguistic evidence that Arabs used knuckle bones as dice as well. Their word for dice is the same as the word for knuckle bone. Caesar even used dice to determine whether his troops should cross the Rubicon.

Dice can be traced back to prehistoric times. When early fortunetellers told fortunes, they would throw arrows, sticks, stones, and bones in order to tell the future. Dice were originally designed as part of the fortuneteller's arsenal. Over the years, dice have been made of wood, bones, animal horns, clay, animal teeth, seeds, and nut shells. More expensive dice were made of precious stones, gold, silver, ivory, and even porcelain.

Modern dice are usually made of plastic. Casino dice are made of hard cellulose. The cellulose allows for sharp corners and edges, plus it is transparent so that anyone in the casino would see if the die were incorrectly weighted.

While dice have been around in one form or another for over two thousand years, craps as we know it today has only been in play for about one hundred years. Craps is descended from the English game of "Hazard" which was played during the Third Crusade, but was probably invented long before then.

In the early 1800s, Hazard became popular in New Orleans. The French called it craps, which was a corruption of the English "crabs," a term used for double-ones, now known as "snake eyes." New Orleans craps players changed the rules frequently, trying to develop more interesting games or games with better player odds, or better casino odds. While many different game rules were set up, in 1907, John H Winn developed the game as we know it now. He was the first to allow the "don't pass" bet.