Dice games have been around for at least two thousand years, with signs existing that dice games were being played as far back as in the era of Roman Empire.  Roman troops played dice games using dice created from the bones of sheep and pigs to kill time when at camp; this utilization of pig and sheep bones is believed to be the origin of the saying “roll them bones”.

The earliest use of dice is believed to be as an utility in predicting the future thus helping people to make decisions.  Over time the symbols have evolved into the numerical symbols we see today, and the assistance of dice to help predict future events has long passed.

Any game that has been around this long has numerous thoughts as to its origins.  One of the numerous theories about its origins has the game beginning in an Arab game called Azzahr played by Arabs prior to the middle ages.  Much later the game surfaced in France there it was referred to as Hasard; about the year 1500 the game came to England and acquired the English spelling Hazard.  The game continued to change but by the early 1700’s the rules of the game were well established.

The French brought the game across the Atlantic when they established themselves in New France (Quebec and parts of Nova Scotia).  Following the defeat of the French by the British in the new world a vast number of of the French in Nova Scotia made the decision not stay in Canada, so they moved south and ultimately finished up in Louisiana where they established themselves.  The French settlers brought along the game of Hasard, but over time started calling the game Crebs or Creps, their spelling of the French word Crabes (the lowest available denomination available in the game was referred to as Crabes in French and Crabs by the English.  The word Craps (derived from the Cajun Creps or Crebs) was used in America English as early as the year 1843.

When the frontier migrated west the game of Craps migrated with it, Craps is now enjoyed all over America as well as the rest of the planet.  There are two types of craps offered “Street Craps” and “Bank Craps” in addition to a third sort, an web-based form becoming popular called “Online Craps”.  Estimates conservatively put the quantity of Americans that play dice annually at thirty million.