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The Casino Game of Craps – Epic History and Origins

It's generally considered that the game of craps first was invented during the first Crusades of the Holy land. The chancellor of one of the four city sections of Jerusalem made a simple game of dice to help soldiers deal with the boredom of down time between fighting campaigns. It was called Hazard. After being bought back to Europe by returning soldiers, it became an instant hit around the continent. The name probably comes from the French. To play, many people would simply squat...like toads.

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Image source: KasinoRanking, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The History and Origins of the Casino Game of Craps

Whenever we hear the name of the game of craps, the English always make a quiet wry smile. That’s because the verb “to crap” means exactly what you think it does! Why on earth any game would bear such a name is a mystery we’re going to answer with this article.

So, Why is the Game Called Craps?

First, some middle-age history to give us some background. In 1094, large parts of Asia Minor had fallen under the control of the Seljuq Turks. Because they were threatening to invade Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) the Byzantine Emperor, Alexis decided to ask the Pope for a helping hand in defeating these rampaging soldiers. Pope Urban II, for reasons to consolidate his power, agreed and ordered all European Christians to heed his call to arms to protect the Holy land.

So a huge army of around 100,000 crusaders set off in search of glory and redemption. To say it was a long haul on foot would be an understatement. Along the route, they managed to lay waste almost everything they came into contact with. Just think about the logistics of feeding and watering that number of men. Once they’d reached their destination, they put all faiths to the sword in a huge orgy of bloodletting. You can find contemporary illustrations of soldiers playing jackpot football with the heads of their enemies. And once that was done, it was time to return home. Stay with us, we’re still going to be coming to the game of craps.

The Game of Craps: Born from Boredom

The crusaders who remained behind, formed the four Crusader States, with the central one being the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Ridley Scott’s awful movie, “The Kingdom of Heaven”, is set around this time. The Chancellor of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, and historian of the last years of the kingdom before its fall to Saladin in 1187, was Sir William of Tyre. He was born in the crusader state. And we can thank him as the creator of the game of craps.

Medieval battles lasted around an hour give or take some minutes. And there was much downtime in between the excitement. Most of the time in foreign lands was spent in absolute boredom. Your average crusader was essentially nothing more than a peasant with no means of either reading or writing. So that rules out passing time reading books or surfing the internet. Maybe they’d be playing craps with a live dealer at King Billy Casino if they could.

Many campaigns simply consisted of waiting months, and sometimes years, besieging a distant castle and waiting for the population within to die of starvation or disease. So it was to help the foot soldiers pass the time, that William invented a game of dice. Originally it was known as “Hazard”, named after a castle they happen to be laying siege to, and the mispronunciation of its Arab name. Typical Brits abroad!

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Craps Comes to Europe

As crusaders made their way back to Europe, the game eventually made it’s way to England. There is became an instant hit and even Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales makes mention of it in 1478. By the 17th century, the game had spread to all walks of life, being found in taverns and parlours and salons across Europe. Of course, as it was spreading through different countries and languages, the game of craps was also evolving, along with it’s jargon.

It was probably the French who first bought the game over to the Americas in the late 1800s. No one is certain, but the French settlers of Nova Scotia seemed to have first dibs at the title. Then again, there’s a tale that the game first appeared in New Orleans thanks to another Frenchman, Bernard de Marigny. He was a part French, part Creole, and completely American, of noble birth.

At some point, he had visited England where he found a great love for the jackpot games. But he changed the rules slightly on his return to the US. Essentially there was a flaw left in his rules, which a crafty player could exploit.

The Game of Craps: New Dice

To solve this persistent problem, which could rear its ugly head at any moment during gameplay, a US dice maker called John H Winn, introduced a new rule for the game of craps. The “don’t pass bet”. Thus the modern age of the game of craps was born. And the name? Well, at the time of Bernard de Marigny, the common folk played a game called “crapaud” which was named after the toad. The game was played on any relatively flat surface. All that was needed was a pair of dice and some cash. Because many people simply played by squatting down to make use of the floor as a playing surface, they looked like toads, and hence the name.

As with all stories from yesteryear with foggy origins, there’s another tale that states the game of craps got its name from the French word for “crabs”, which unsurprisingly is “crabes.” By the time the Second World War swung around, the game of craps was already very popular on the streets. Once again, due to prolonged periods of downtime, these more modern soldiers, just like their Crusading counterparts, took up the game to alleviate boredom between deployments. Somehow the game of the common folk gradually became a game of choice for the wealthy. Of course today, anyone can play. Have a look online for sites to win the jackpot.

Craps in the Movies

No one can put their finger on exactly when the game of craps first entered the casino. What we do know is that the game was an instant hit. We can thank the media for changing the perception of the game, thanks to starring roles in James Bond movies like “Diamonds Are Forever” with Sean Connery always using his jackpot winning strategies in order to win the game of craps, as well as Robert De Niro’s character Sam “Ace” Rothstein, in Martin Scorsese’s “Casino” making a scene at the craps table with Ginger, played by Sharon Stone. The game of craps became synonymous with sex, glamour, and luxury.

Conclusion: The Casino Game of Craps

Yet, the game of craps is still played by those without wealth or even access to it. Just as with those early crusaders hanging out in the Holy land, it’s still a great game to kill some time between killing people. There’s not much in the way of strategy. You can play with an online live dealer at King Billy Casino. They also have a great bonus for newbies. If you’re a beginner at craps, then you’ll see that with just two dice and a flat surface, you’ll be able to do battle like a crusader.