History of Craps

The history of craps starts with the invention of the dice which is considered to have happened in India. The first dice was found during excavations at an archaeological site in south-eastern Iran. The dice was a part of a 5000-year-old backgammon set, which archaelogists believed was imported from India. Centuries later, during the Middle Ages, it became the favourite game of the knights.

Craps is a descendant of a game called Hazard which is believed to have been invented during the crusades, by Sir William of Tyre and his knights. The name Hazard comes out of the name of the sieged castle of Asart (or Hazarth) in 1125 A.D. Others consider that Hazard originated from the arabic word Al Zar which means dice.

The game became widely popular throughout England and was mentioned by Geoffrey Chaucer in Canterbury Tales. Hazard was played in almost every single inn throughout England. Apart from that many nobles were playing Hazard in luxury casinos. The game was also brought to France and some believe that the French changed the name to Craps. Hazard was brought to USA either by the English or the French settlers, and that’s where the game became what we know today. The game was played on the riverboats on the Mississippi River and then it spread to the rest of the country. While the game was spreading throughout USA, John Winn, a dice maker, developed the game, made it simpler, invented the modern layout of craps and made it possible for the players to bet against the shooter or with him. Winn is considered to be the father of the modern craps and his development became the game of Bank Craps.

During the World War 2, the game became widely popular among the soldiers who played the it just to pass the time. Later, craps was filmed in numerous Hollywood movies which also helped it to become more and more popular. It lost some of its popularity during the 1990s but when the online casinos appeared, it gained its popularity back because it may be easily played in every online casino.

Before you are ready to start playing craps, you need to learn how to play craps by reading our craps rules article. Also, you may check out our craps strategies and tips which may help you lower the casino edge and raise your chances to win.

If you’d like to test any of our strategies and play in an online casino, you can CLICK HERE, sign up, deposit, get a bonus and try your luck.