Like many other casino games, the origin of Craps is a topic of dispute. As a matter of fact, there are a whole bunch of different versions about how this exciting game came to. Yet, most game historians tend to agree on one thing - that Craps is an extended version of an ancient English game known as Hazard.

One common belief is that the predecessor of Hazard was invented by soldiers of the Roman Legions, who rolled pig bones shaped into cubes onto their shields for entertainment. Another quite common theory is that the game was created by the Sir William of Tyre and his knights during the crusades. It is believed, by some, that the game was played while the crusaders were laying siege to a castle called Hazarth around 1120 AD. According to this believe, the game of Hazard was named after this castle. Nevertheless, some suggest that the game and its name originate from the Arabic word azzah or al zar, which means dice.

Regardless of who invented it, the game had by the late 1300s become extremely popular game in both England and France. The English author Geoffrey Chaucer's (1342 - 1400) even mentioned the game in his famous book "The Canterbury Tales" and years later, during the 17th century, many British aristocrats played the game for money. The French also found the game thrilling and it is said that it was them who changed the name to Craps, by simply altering the name given to the lowest possible dice roll in the game of Hazard, called crabs.

So who brought the game to America? Well, nobody seems to know for sure. Some say that it came with the British settlers, while others give the French credit for bringing the game to the New World.

No matter how it reached American soil; the game had by 1813 made its way to New Orleans, where Bernard de Mandeville transformed it into the first "real" version of Craps. His variation of Hazard soon became a success on the riverboats traveling up and down the Mississippi River, but his adaptation had one serious imperfection. The game was defenseless against crooked dice, because of its betting structure. But this problem was about to be solved, when the American dice maker John H Winn saw the game. Winn, who is sometimes referred to as "the father of Craps", decided to develop the game further by making it possible for the players to bet against the shooter, as well as with him. This development also produced the Bank Craps, which is the Craps variation seen in every casino today.

Years later, during the 1990s, Craps started to lose much of its popularity. One reason for this was that many gamblers started playing other casino games such as slots and video poker instead. However, Craps are now making a huge comeback, much thanks to the Internet and the possibility to play the game online 24/7.