Dice games have a long and ancient history leading up to modern day Craps.

Evidence of dice play can be found all over the world, from ancient Egypt to the Americas. It is a great source of debate as to where their exact origins lie, but the first man made records of game play can be found on the walls of the pharaohs. In fact, there is much evidence to support the idea that both peasants and their rulers enjoyed such games. Board games that used dice as a main component were also common. Ancient Egyptian spiritual writings even claimed that the spirits of those passed away continued to play dice games in the underworld.

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In India, evidence of dice play can be found dating back to around 2000B.C. Though they possessed cubical or oblong dice at the time, it was not uncommon to find some players using four sided stick dice and cowry shells for recreation.

The Romans were notorious for dice games. They are recorded as believing the Roman goddess Fortuna, daughter of Zeus, determined the outcome of a throw (coining the phrase Lady Luck), but that didn't stop players from cheating. Archaeologists working in Pompeii have uncovered dice carefully loaded with pieces of lead to weigh them into landing on certain numbers. In fact, many Roman leaders including Nero, Augustus and Caligula were notoriously known for cheating when playing the game. Though the game was only expressly condoned during Saturnalia, the rich and poor commonly played it throughout the year alike.

Crusaders are said to have created the earliest form of the game Craps, known as Hazard. They developed it to pass the time while seizing a castle of the same name in 1125 A.D.  These men brought the game to England where by the 17th century it enjoyed a widespread popularity.

Our modern day version of Craps came to be in 1813 when Xavier Philippe de Marigny de Mandeville fell in love with the game Hazard during a trip to London. On his return to America, he simplified the game's rules and introduced it to his home state of Louisiana.  From there, his version spread throughout the country with French players dubbing it Craps from a pun on the word Crabs.

In the 20th century, Craps became world famous when in World War II soldiers from both sides of the line would play the game to pass time between fighting. As U.S. soldiers migrated over the years, so too did the game.

In the last decade or so, Craps has under gone another change. In the early 2000's it found itself featured in many online casinos. This new medium created a renewed popularity in the game, which in the late 1990's suffered when simpler options such as slot machines took over most casinos.  It remains to be seen what the future will hold for the popular game but if history is any indication, dice games themselves are certainly here to stay in one medium or another.

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