The Two Opinions on the Craps History

You should know that there are numerous debates about craps history. Although the experts cannot come to an understanding, there are two main opinions about craps history.

First opinion about the course of craps history

It is Richard Epstein's belief that the game craps originates from the game Hazard. This game has been played in the Middle Ages. In the 1700's Montmort established the rules of the game.

Unfortunately we do not know where the name "craps" comes from. Some experts believe it comes from the English "crabs" while others believe it comes from the French "crapeaud" (French for toad).

It seems that the game has been played during the time of the Holy Roman Empire. Evidence has been found that proves the soldiers of the Roman Legions played dice games. They would make the dice from pig knuckles and they would play on their inverted shields. This may also be the source of the expression "rolling the bones".

The modern game of craps came to the United States from Europe.

Nowadays there are two forms of craps that are played all over the world. These types of craps can be traced back in craps history, and they are:

• "Street Craps"
• "Bank Craps"

With the advent of the internet, online craps has also become very popular.

As the name suggests, "Street Craps" is played on the street. The shooter picks a point and tries to roll that number. The other players can either bet against him, which is known as "on the 7", or they can bet with him, which is known as "on the point". "Fade" means that someone most cover the bet of the shooter. The game cannot continue unless someone covers the bet.

Bank craps is nothing more than the game of craps you will normally play in a casino. The "bank", in our case the casino, will cover all the bets. This means that all the players at the table are playing against the bank or against the casino.

Second opinion about the course of craps history

It is Mark Pilarski's opinion that the origins of craps precede the Middle Ages. In his opinion the game originates from a game played by the Arabs before the Middle Ages. They used little numbered cubes called "azzahr" (Arab for dice). The game was then introduced to the French. It is the French that named it "hasard". Later in the 1500's the game was introduced to the British and they changed its name to "hazard". "Crabs" was the lowest value that you could get while playing Hazard. The French in turn adopted the new name, but hey used the French spelling "crabes".

In the 1700's the game was introduced to the French colony of Acadia, across the Atlantic.

The English conquered Acadia in 1755. They renamed the colony Nova Scotia. The French were cast aside and finally they settled in Louisiana. These French settlers were called Cajun, just as they are called nowadays. The Cajun spoke a language known as Louisiana French. They kept on playing Hazard, but now they called it "crebs" or "creps".

In 1843 the American English adopted the Cajun word, but under the form of "craps". Needles to say that omitting the "s" results in another word that people did not want to pronounce. So they were very careful about clearly pronouncing the "s".

In 1885 people finally gave up on the "s". Terms like craps game, craps table, and craps shooter became crap table, crapshooter, crap game, and so on. Wherever the "s" was just an impediment and had no useful purpose, people dropped it. The "s" still remains in terms that refer to the game itself: craps, game of craps, rolled craps, etc.

These are the two main opinions about craps history. When it comes to online craps though, things are very simple. Online craps is nothing more than the Internet version of the popular casino game. Online craps it is an exciting craps game variation similar to the one played in land based casinos.