The Background of Craps

The recorded history of Craps dates all the way back to a dice game referred to as Hazard, which goes all the way back to Bernard de Mandeville in New Orleans in 1813. Hazard is believed to be a descendant of Azzahr, which means ‘the die’ a game played by Arabs.

The game evolved as it spread out from the Arab territories to Europe and then to the UK. By the early eighteenth century, formal rules for Hazard had been developed. France started playing the English variation of Hazard and is assumed to have been imported to America by early French colonizers. In the mid-Eighteenth century, when the British beat the French in Canada, the French colonizers migrated to Louisiana. Dice were enjoyed on river boats, casinos and wharfs and a streamlined ‘US’ variation of Craps was created. The game moved west and is a well-known game that is participated in all over the U.S. and all over the world.

The name ‘Craps’ is considered to be a French articulation of the term crabs, which means two ‘1s’. There are 2 basic forms of Craps that are bet on-street Craps and bank Craps. Street caps, aptly named since it’s bet on the streets is where a tosser makes a point and then tries to acquire that point. The betting is made either for or against the player and somebody has to cover the bet for the craps game to go ahead.

In casino Craps, which is the common game, played in casinos, the casino backs the game. The players gamble against the house-the house covers all of the wagers of all of the individuals. Craps was a very popular game but in the past 20 years had divided itself and other games, such as poker and chemin de fer became even more popular. However, Craps is experiencing a come back in popularity once again in net betting houses and in real betting houses.