Craps Background

History of Craps Online

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The antecedents of Craps lie in the ancient game of Hazard. The game was popular among the knights of England during the crusades which spanned several centuries after they began in 1095. The ancient Roman soldiers too are believed to have played with pig knucklebones and rolled these onto their shields, which served as the crap table!

There are references to the game being played by the English nobility in the 17th century at well-appointed gambling houses. As stories go, moving from England to France, Hazard took on a new avatar, and came to be known as Craps.

The origin of the word Craps is similarly locked in debate Some insist that the name ‘Craps’ was given by the Americans, who simplified the game to a large extent. Who took the game to America, whether it was the English or the French, is however another subject of debate.

The term ‘Craps’ means ‘toad’ in French, and the French were referred to as such disparagingly so, considering their taste for its meat. Another story refers to the losing score of 2 in the dice game of Hazard, which was called ‘crabs’.

The game achieved its modern day status in the early 19th century, when African settlers in the southern states of America took to the game. From the riverboats on the Mississippi, the game spread to the rest of the USA. John Winn, a dice maker further developed the game, manufacturing the dice as we see it today, rather than the crooked dice that was used till then. John Winn is also credited with the development of the Craps table and the layouts, and introduced the concept of betting ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, and the ‘Don’t Pass Bets’.

During the 1990’s Craps as a casino game was edged out by the glitzy slots that attracted players. It has however, staged a comeback, and today Craps is among the games that command the maximum amount of money that is wagered in any casino, being the choice of high and low rollers alike.