Craps (dice game)

Craps is a dice game in which the players make wagers on the outcome of the roll, or a series of rolls, of a pair of dice. Players may wager money against each other (playing "street craps") or a bank (playing "casino craps", also known as "table craps", or often just "craps"). Because it requires little equipment, "street craps" can be played in informal settings.

Craps developed in the United States from a simplification of the western European game of Hazard. The origins of Hazard are obscure and may date to the Crusades. Hazard was brought from London to New Orleans about 1807 by the returning Bernard Xavier Philippe de Marigny de Mandeville, the young gambler and scion of a family of wealthy colonial Louisiana landowners. Although in Hazard the dice shooter may choose any number from five to nine to be the main number, de Marigny simplified the game such that the main number is always seven, the optimal choice by knowledgeable Hazard players. Both Hazard and its new offshoot were unfamiliar and rejected by Americans of his social class, leading de Marigny to introduce his novelty to the local underclass. Fieldhands taught their friends, and deckhands carried the new game up the Mississippi River. Celebrating the popular success of his novelty, de Marigny gave the name Craps to a street in his New Orleans real estate development.

The central game, called Pass from the French word for pace or step, has been gradually supplemented over the decades by many companion games which can be played simultaneously. The entire collection of over one hundred separate and independent possible games is called Craps. The name Craps was a Louisiana mispronunciation of the word "crabs", which in London had been the joint epithet for the numbers two and three, which in Hazard are the only permanent instant losing numbers for wagers on Pass.

For a century after its invention, Craps was abused by casinos using unfair dice. To remedy the problem, about 1907 a Philadelphia dice maker named John H. Winn introduced a layout which featured bets on both Pass and Don't Pass. Most modern casinos use his innovation.

Craps exploded in popularity during World War II, which brought most young American men of every social class into the military. The street version of Craps was popular among soldiers, who often played it using a blanket as a shooting surface. Their military memories led to Craps becoming the dominant game in postwar Las Vegas.

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