The history of Craps dates back to a dice game called Hazard, which dates back to Bernard de Mandeville in New Orleans in 1813. Hazard is thought to be a descendant of Azzahr, meaning ‘the die’-a game played by Arabs.

The game evolved as it traveled from the Arab countries to France and then England. By the early 1700s, formal rules for Hazard had been established. France adopted the English version of Hazard and is thought to have been brought to America by early French settlers. In the mid-1700s, when the English defeated the French in Canada, the French settlers relocated to Louisiana. Dice were played on river boats, clubs and wharfs and a simplified ‘American’ version of Craps was developed. The game moved west along with the frontier and is a popular game today that is played all over the United States and around the world.

The name ‘Craps’ is believed to be a French pronunciation of the word crabs, which means a pair of ones. There are two basic forms of Craps that are played-street Craps and bank Craps. Street caps, aptly named because it is played on the streets is where a shooter establishes a point and then tries to make that point. The betting is made either for or against the shooter and someone must cover the bet in order for the game to continue.

In bank Craps, which is the common game, played in casinos, the casino banks the game. The players play against the house-the casino covers all of the bets of all of the players. Craps used to be a quite popular game but in the last 20 years had divided itself and other games, such as poker and black jack became more popular. However, Craps is seeing a come back in popularity once again in online casinos and in real casinos.

Craps is based on a party at the table. These are the players at the casino that you often hear shouting at each other, at the table and dice-it’s a team sport-you get to play along with other players. The appeal of Craps being a team effort is what appeals to many people, however for others; the essence of the game is to make money, and lots of it. At a Craps table, it is possible to make quite a lot of money playing. Craps can be a confusing game to play at first sight. Craps looks like a difficult game to grasp however once you understand the concepts of Craps and you get the hang of the game; it is quite easy to follow.

By Adel Awwad
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