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History of Dice

The history of dice and craps is a colorful one. Games of dice have fascinated people for over 2000 years. The term “roll the bones” derives from ancient Roman soldiers who used to roll pig knuckles on their shields to pass the time. They have discovered dice as old as 900 years that look similar to dice we use today.

There is much speculation on the history of dice games.

Some say it originated during the Roman Empire and others have said it originated in the Middle East with a game called Azzahr.

The history of dice games shows they were used for more than just play. In the ancient world the tossing of dice was not only considered to be determined by luck but also under the control of the gods. Many things were decided by throwing dice including the dividing of inheritances, choosing rulers and as a method of prediction. Fortuna, the daughter of the god, Zeus, is referred to by gamblers as Lady Luck and is thought to control the outcome of the throw of the dice.

Before the use of cubed dice, people in ancient times would throw things like sea shells, rocks, fruit stones, flat sticks and nut shells to get random results when playing games. Many believed these were adopted from doctors or shamans who would attempt to gain knowledge of things to come by throwing them.
Playing dice in the 17th century.

A game called Hazard was being played in France in the 1700s and soon found its way to England and then America where it developed more formal rules. It is widely accepted that craps developed out of a game called Hazard created by Bernard de Mandeville in New Orleans. The game gained wide popularity throughout America and was soon adopted by casinos across the U.S.

The name “craps” is said to have originated from the French name “Crabes” and the English name “Crabs”. By beginning of the 20th century, terms like crapstable, craps game and crapshooter where thought to be awkward. People decided to drop the ‘s’ from “craps” in terms like craptable, crapshooter and crapgame. The ‘s’ was kept only when referring to the game like “craps” or when a player looses and “craps out”.

Dice-maker John H. Winn is credited as having created a new version of craps where players could bet for or against the shooter. This thwarted the use of fixed dice and became the game of craps we play today.

In the late 1800s, all games involving a “bank” or games in which you bet against the house were made illegal. Craps became an “underground” game being played privately throughout the U.S. Nevada legalized gambling in 1869 and craps began appearing in Nevada casinos. Nevada banned gambling for a short Dice from ancient Egypt.

period of time from 1910 to 1931, but since then, the largest gambling city in the world, Las Vegas grew with craps being a staple of every casino and now found online at Internet casinos.

Two forms of craps are played to day and can be traced through the history of dice games and craps. Street Craps and Bank Craps are the two popular forms of the game which now included online craps on the Internet is gaining increasing popularity.

Street Craps is a version of the game often found, you guessed it, on the street. Street craps is usually begun with the shooter rolling a point and then trying to roll the point again. Players can bet with the shooter (on the point) or against the shooter (on the seven). For the game to continue someone must cover the bet or “fade” the shooter.

In the casinos, you’ll normally see Bank Craps being played. The term “bank” is used because some person or the casino must cover all the bets of the player. In this way all players are playing against the house.