|
 Games of chance
involving "dice" have been around since the dawn of civilization.
The earliest dice were probably shaped from animal bone or carved
from hardwoods like ebony and oak. We know that Roman soldiers
tossed pig knuckles onto their shields more than two thousand years
ago in a game some called "bones". But where did Craps come from -
and how did it get that name?
The answer to both questions is certainly open to debate, but
here is one take on the convoluted journey from pig knuckles to a
casino classic:
Arabs adopted the Legionnaire's pastime of "throwing the bones"
(tossing dice) when they expanded into former Roman provinces. They
called their small, numbered cubes "azzahr". At some time during
trade with Europeans in the Middle Ages, this dice game came back
across the Mediterranean to be adopted by the French as "hasar" or "hasard".
During the interminable wars between France and England during the
13th and 14th Centuries, English knights brought the game home as
"hazard" - meaning to take a chance or to put at risk (as in "hazard
a guess").
As the English played the game, they called the lowest roll
"crabs". In the aftermath of yet another war, French soldiers picked
up this variation from their English prisoners but, maintaining
their linguistic independence, used the French word "crabes". Early
in the 18th Century, French colonists took the game to the Canadian
wilderness. As England extended its reach north from the American
colonies, some of the displaced French-speaking Canadians migrated
to Louisiana where, by the end of the century, a simplified version
of Hazard lost its English name and became known simply as "creps",
the Cajun spelling of crabes.
As Cajun riverboat men journeyed up the Mississippi, the
venerable dice game was again introduced to English speakers, this
time American frontiersmen, who adopted the game and corrupted the
name to "craps". As Americans spread out across the West, they made
craps a mainstay of every saloon and casino in the land. After the
U.S. Civil War, a dice maker introduced an innovation that made
imperfectly manufactured dice a non-issue: players could bet for or
against the roller. As the popularity of craps continued to grow,
various bets (like the Hardways and Horn bets) were incorporated to
add some spice and give players more ways to win.
Today, craps is one of the most popular games in any casino.
Craps tables are easy to spot on the casino floor - they're the ones
where large crowds have gathered round to watch the thrilling action
in rapt fascination. |
