Online Craps History

Although the actual origins of the game of Craps have been lost in time, we here at River Belle Online Casino are proud to present all the ancient legends and the modern day facts surrounding the great casino game of Craps.

The Origins of Craps

It is believed that the game of Craps is a direct extension of the Arabic dice game called “Al Zar” (which means dice in Arabic) and was brought to the West by merchants in the 11th and 12th century. The game of “Al Zar” is in turn believed to come from an Egyptian dice game dating back to 2600BC.

A separate (but no less worthy) story about the origins of Craps also comes from the Middle East, but in a far less peaceful way...

It was 1125 AD and Sir William of Tyre was the leader of a group of Crusaders who had layed siege to a castle which was named Asart or Hazarth. During this time Sir William of Tyre and his knights created a dice game to pass the time and named it after the castle and the game of Hazard was born. Hazard was later to develop into the game that we all now know as Craps.

Craps through the Ages

The game of Hazard created during the Crusades became extremely popularity in England and by the 17th century it was played in almost every tavern in England. The French also adopted the game, but changed the name of the game to Craps which is a corruption of "Crabs". “Crabs” is the name used to describe a losing situation in Hazard in which a player rolls a 2.

Hazard (or Craps, depending on which story you believe) arrived in the Americas with British or French settlers (no one actually knows which) and quickly become a popular pastime activity.

It was not until the beginning of the19th century however until the game of Craps truly took off when John H. Winn simplified Craps and invented the modern layout to the game (the Philadelphia layout). Today John H. Winn is seen as "the father of the modern day Craps game".

Modern day and Online Craps

During World War 1 & 2 soldiers from across the globe were sent all around the world to fight and with them went the modern game of Craps. It was used to pass the time between actual fighting and was introduced to many different countries during this time. In fact, it became such a cultural phenomenon that many movies at the time showed the game of Craps being played.

In the early 1990’s the growth of the internet and online gambling in particular introduced a new version of this iconic casino game to the world – Online Craps! It is now available 24/7 to anybody with internet access and the popularity of Craps has never been as great as it is now. Everyday thousands of people play Online Craps at River Belle Online Casino, so why not you? Simply download our FREE Online Casino Software and start playing Craps today!