THE HISTORY Of CRAPS

The casino game of craps, developed over thousands of years, is inextricably interwoven with the development of humanity. Prehistoric cavemen cast six-sided hard elements called astragalas that came from the ankles of clove-footed animals.


The mythology of very vintage Egypt, Greece, and Rome relates how the gods entertained themselves at dice, with the destiny of the world traveling on the outcome. Dice have been discovered in the wrecks of Pompeii and in the burial sleeping rooms of the pyramids. The pharaohs as well as the Caesars rolled dice for amusement, gain, divination, and judicial decision. When Julius Caesar withstood the Roman Senate and directed his victorious armed detachment over the Rubicon, he took his broadcast from the language of the dice shooter: lacta alea est, the pass away is cast. Even in the age of chivalry, knights amused themselves and their females with sport of dice.

Gaming schools and guilds flourished, whereas by then wagering was frowned on by the place of adoration and was often prohibited. Then, as now, the nobility was exempted, and the regulations were enforced contrary to the smaller categories, particularly on employed days.

Today's casino craps can be traced exactly to the game of hazard, first performed by English Crusaders throughout the siege of an Arabian palace in the twelfth century. Tosses of 2, 3, or 12 were mentioned to as "crabs." By the early 1800's, when the game was presented to America in the dock town of New Orleans, "crabs" had become "craps" and the directions had almost developed to those utilized today. Spreading quickly up the Mississippi with the riverboat gamblers, and over the homeland by Pullman-car sharks, craps rapidly restored faro as the most well liked wagering game.

John H. Winn is credited with banking the first craps game allowing right and incorrect wagering, ascribing bettors a 5% commission. Shortly after, Winn conceived the "Philadelphia Layout," very much like the craps layout of today, and encompassed a don't-pass line which finally evolved into the Don't Pass Bar 12 line and eradicated the 5% commission. This characteristic took the game out of the roads and into the casinos.