Craps History Through Time

Dice have been used for 1000′s of years (at least 2,000 years and counting), there’s evidence which dates the use of dice back as far as during the age of the Roman Empire.  Troops employed the bones of sheep and pigs, shaped them into cubes and threw the bones in a contest to pass time in camp; this is believed to be the basis of the phrase “roll them bones”.

The belief generally held is that the initial use of dice was to aid in predicting the future in so doing enabling folks to make improved decisions.  In the many years since then the dice symbols in use have evolved into the digit symbols that we observe on modern dice; as well the employment governing dice to predict the future and to help in making decisions is no longer employed.

Anything this old has a fuzzy past and thus the origins of Craps have a few theories .  One guess regarding the origins of the game claims that it is an adaptation of a game played by Arabs for thousands of years named Azzahr.  After some time the game showed up in France where it was known as Hasard, and about the year 1500 the game crossed the English Channel and the name was given the English spelling of Hazard.  The game evolved over time and by the early 1700’s recognized rules governing play had been established.

The French brought the game over the Atlantic when they settled in New France (Quebec and parts of Nova Scotia).  After the French were defeated by the British in the new world a vast number of of the French in Nova Scotia decided they would rather not stay in Canada, so they moved south and ultimately finished up in Louisiana where they settled.  They brought the game of Hasard with them, however over the years began to call the game Crebs or Creps, their spelling of the French word Crabes (the smallest available value available in the game was called Crabes in French and Crabs by the English.  The name Craps (derived from the Cajun Creps or Crebs) was in use in America English as early on as the year 1843.

The game of craps migrated west along with the frontier, and today is played all over America as well as in the rest of the world.  Two basic forms of craps are played these days, they are “Bank Craps” and “Street Craps”.  Lately another type of craps is becoming popular an online version refered to as “Online Craps” .  Estimates place the quantity of dice game participants in America at thirty  million each year .