A Brief History of Craps

The game of craps originated in Europe and was passed on to the United States from there. There is a lot of debate regarding the actual time of origin of the game. There is one school of thought that puts the origins of the game, or at least a primitive form of it, to the times of the Roman Empire. This school believes that the Roman soldiers made cubes out of pig knuckles and played with them on their shields as a means of recreation. The term ‘rolling the bones’ is believed to originate from this act of the soldiers actually rolling the dice on to their shields.

However, another school of thought believes that the game was first played by the French. Historically, the game of craps as we know it today is believed to have evolved from an earlier game called Hazard. What lends credence to this theory is that the name ‘craps’ actually comes from the French pronunciation of the word ‘crabs’. ‘Crabs’ was another term used for the game ‘Hazard’.

The game of Hazard itself was played in France for the first time sometime during the 18th century A.D. The game was a pastime of the French and European aristocrats of the time. It made its journey to America from there, and came first to Arcadia, the French Louisiana colony in America in that time.

The game continued to be popular in New Orleans in its earlier form of Hazard. The first time the game of craps was actually played was in 1813. The game was a simplified version of the original Hazard, and the person behind the simplification was Bernard de Mandeville. This simplified version called craps became rapidly popular across America, as more and more Americans were introduced to it.

Mandeville’s first version of craps was obviously flawed, as first versions usually are. The biggest flaw was the possibility of usage of fixed dice. This flaw arose from the betting rules that this initial version of craps followed. Subsequently, there were many twists to the tale, and the game saw numerous changes, with each change bringing newer rules to the game. However, the problem of using fixed dice still remained.

As the game evolved, it became a serious gambling game and was featured in most of the gambling houses operating in those times. Craps, which was in the big league in Europe as far as gambling was concerned, was also now in the same league in America. The newer versions of the game were not as complicated as the original game of Hazard, and could be completed faster as well.

By the end of the 19th century, one specific version of craps, called Table Off game, was gaining in popularity in the gambling houses of America. It was around this time that the casino tables were introduced into gambling. Another new introduction was a simpler layout, along with different betting norms like 6 and 8, the Field, the Win, and the Come. At the same time, players were allowed to bet against the house as well, but only with the dice.
All along, the problem of fixed dice still existed. This problem was finally resolved by John H. Winn. He introduced another change, this time a major one, which allowed a player to bet not only right, but also wrong. Along with this major change, Winn also brought out a brand new layout. The new layout was different from the ones already in use; it had place for Don’t Pass bets as well.

The legalization of gambling in Nevada in the year 1931 actually launched craps as the universally known gambling game. Craps became a pastime for soldiers during World War II. It was further pictured in the movies released from Hollywood around that time, thereby increasing the popularity of the game manifold across the entire world.

However, all good things usually must come to an end, and the popularity of craps too saw a steep downslide. This fall from the pedestal was not due to any defect of the game itself, but due to the rising popularity of other simpler, shorter, and faster gambling games like the slot machines, which took the casinos and the entire American gambling establishment by storm when the machines first hit the market.

As it has proved to be for many other games, the Internet was the savior of craps. The arrival of the Internet into our lives saw the game of craps too being launched online, and now again, there is a slow and steady increase in the popularity of the game. Even though it might not be able to reach the same dizzy heights it earlier did, craps will continue to hold on to its glory. It will not fade away; the Internet has already guaranteed it that much.