The Origin of Craps

The game of craps is one of the most popular; certainly the noisiest, and one of the most entertaining games in the casino. Some players believe that the game was just invented by casinos in order for the players to have fun and divert their miseries from losing at a game of poker, roulette, or blackjack. Its origins are subject to interpretation, speculation, and legend. The most popular belief, is that it is a derivative of a game called hazard, mentioned in a chapter from Chaucer’s Canterbury tales, (The Millers tale) and introduced to England, by soldiers returning from the crusades, where they whiled away the boring periods, playing games, and wagering upon the results, whilst holding an Arab stronghold under siege. The castle held under siege, by Sir William of Tyre and his army, was named Hazarth, or Azarth, which translated easily into Hazard. On the other hand, the Arabic word for dice (with which the game was played) is azzah. So the plot thickens, could there be an Arabic claim for its origin? Going back even earlier in time, it is reported that ancient Roman soldiers played a dice game of chance, by removing the knuckle bones of pigs, shaving them into dice, marking each facet, rolling them onto a flat surface, and wagering on the result. (rolling the bones) The game of hazard in England proved to be ever popular, lavish gambling houses were built, for the nobles and upper classes to indulge their passions, and huge fortunes were won and lost, in spectacular fashion, as a result.

Hazard became popular in Europe, starting from Britain, it then landed in France, it was probably picked up by the French refugees, fleeing from the French revolution, and then taken over to New Orleans as a large proportion of the French immigrants moved further west to America. The game really took off in New Orleans, initially played in back alleys or in illegal river boats and casinos. The game became known as Craps, there are two theories as to how the name change occurred; the French, as introducers of the game to America, were commonly known, (by the British) as crapauds, (toads) possibly because of their penchant for amphibian meat, (frogs legs) another explanation; the lowest score on the dice in the game of hazard (two) was known as crabs. However Craps is the name that has stuck, and is arguably the most exciting game in the casino today. The glamour and romance of the river boat gamblers of the Mississippi has not gone unnoticed by the Hollywood movie makers, and we have all seen the shoot outs on film, where the villain gets caught out using loaded dice, and before he can extract the derringer, cunningly tucked into his ruffled cuff, the hero gets the drop on him, beats him to pulp, deposits him in the river, and claims the favours of the grateful victims daughter.

Loaded dice were often used by the criminal elements of the riverboat gambling fraternity, before the modern version of the game became established. This practice however became an irrelevance when a dice maker, John H Winn, established the rules of the game as it is played today. Winn’s rules allowed a player to bet with, or against, the shooter thus invalidating any advantage to a loaded dice. The modern version of John H. Winn's craps then became the casino version of the game called Bank Craps. John H. Winn, is renowned as the father of modern craps. The popularity of the game today is unimaginable. The excitement and general hubbub surrounding the craps table makes it difficult to resist the urge to; 'go shoot some craps'
The history of craps is long and debated, but the development of the game itself is not. Its evolution over the centuries has earned it a solid place in the gambling world today.

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