History of Craps — From Hazard to the Modern Casino Table
The history of craps: from the English dice game hazard, through New Orleans in the early 1800s, John H. Winn's landmark layout reform in 1907, and craps as the defining game of WWII soldiers.
Craps is one of the most recognisably American games in the casino, yet its roots stretch back centuries to an English dice game that itself may trace to the Crusades. The journey from medieval tavern game to the thunderous craps tables of Las Vegas is a story of migration, improvisation, and one pivotal rule change that transformed the game forever.
Hazard — the English ancestor
The game of hazard was one of the most popular gambling games in England from the late medieval period through the 18th century. Players rolled two dice, and through a somewhat complex system of main numbers and chance numbers, winning and losing outcomes were determined. The game was loud, social, and notorious — mentioned by Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales and a fixture in English taverns, coffeehouses, and aristocratic gambling dens alike.
The word “crabs” appeared in hazard to describe the worst possible rolls — typically a 2 or 3 — and losing players would cry out “crabs” in frustration. The leading theory is that “crabs” became “craps” as the game crossed the Atlantic, though the etymology has never been definitively settled.
New Orleans and the American birth of craps
The most commonly cited account of craps arriving in America points to Bernard de Mandeville, a French-Creole politician and gambler who is said to have brought a simplified version of hazard to New Orleans around 1807. The Mississippi River city was already a melting pot of French, Spanish, African, and American culture, and gambling was a significant part of its social fabric. The game spread rapidly through the city’s riverboats and gambling houses.
Early American craps had a significant flaw, however. The layout only offered pass and don’t pass bets, and because the dice could be manufactured with a bias, a shooter using loaded dice could guarantee a profit on the pass line — or force everyone else to lose by betting the don’t pass before rolling a predetermined losing number. The game was vulnerable to cheating in a way that made it unreliable for casino operators.
John H. Winn and the 1907 revolution
The modern game of craps was essentially invented by a dice manufacturer named John H. Winn in 1907. Winn redesigned the layout to include a separate section for don’t pass bets alongside the pass line, and crucially, introduced the rule that the 12 (boxcars) on the come-out roll would push rather than win for don’t pass bettors.
This single change — the 12 push on don’t pass — solved the cheating problem. With both pass and don’t pass bets on the same layout, a dishonest shooter could no longer gain by using biased dice, because the same loaded roll that won for one side would lose for the other. The casino could now offer both bets without fear of systematic cheating.
Winn’s layout also introduced the odds bet and several other wagers that remain on modern craps tables today. His redesign is the foundation of every craps table currently in operation.
World War II and the game’s golden age
Craps exploded in popularity during World War II. American soldiers brought the game everywhere — barracks, troop ships, and foxholes. Blankets and overcoats served as improvised tables. The game’s simplicity (a pair of dice, two main bet choices, no equipment beyond felt and chips) made it ideal for military life. For an entire generation of young Americans, craps was the game they knew best.
When those soldiers came home and Nevada’s legal gambling industry expanded in the late 1940s and 1950s, craps was the first table game many of them sought out. Las Vegas casino floors in the 1950s and 1960s gave craps tables prime position, and the game became the social heart of the casino floor — noisy, communal, and capable of turning a whole crowd into a cheering section for a single shooter on a hot roll.
Craps today
Craps’s dominance on the casino floor began to decline in the 1980s and 1990s as slot machines took up more space and blackjack surged in popularity. The learning curve — which is steeper in appearance than in reality — deterred newer generations of casino visitors who found card games more approachable.
Today the game is offered at virtually every major casino worldwide, and online and live dealer versions have made it accessible to players who never stepped foot near a land-based table. The core rules remain exactly what John H. Winn established in 1907, and the best bet at the table — maximum odds on the pass line — was there from the beginning.
For a full walkthrough of how the modern game is played, see Craps Rules. For an explanation of every bet on the table, see Craps Bets. Play craps online for free to experience the game firsthand.