The Casino game of Craps.
Introduction.
Whilst Craps is a game most readily associated with American Casinos and gambling houses, its popularity in online Casinos is almost universal. The Casino game of Craps is largely a game of chance, dependant on the outcome of two rolling dices. However, some gamblers convince themselves that their technique for shooting, or rolling, the dice in a Craps game can influence the outcome of the throw or roll.
A brief history of Craps.
Opinion is divided and the exact truth is lost in the mists of time as to the origin of Craps as a modern Casino game. However, it is known that Craps developed from an English dice rolling game known as ‘Hazard’ in the 12th century. Whether the game of Hazard was invented by the English or merely picked up from the local population cannot be proved; however, it has links back to the time and location of the European Christian Crusades. The term Hazard is almost certainly a European corruption of the Arabic word az-zahr, which means ‘dice’. In his ‘Canterbury Tales’, written in the 14th Century, Geoffrey Chaucer mentions the game of Hazard. For example in the Pardoners Tale: “That all the greatest that were of that land, Y-playing atte hazard he them fand.” The game was immensely popular in English gambling houses, the fore-runners of Casinos; the French too also started playing it and it is widely accepted that they renamed it ‘Craps’, having corrupted the English term ‘Crabs’, which was the term given to a throw resulting in a two (double one). European settlers took the game to America where, in the New Orleans of 1813, Bernard de Mandeville is credited with simplifying the rules, resulting in the American game of Craps. Unfortunately, although popular with early African-Americans, the steamboats of the Mississippi and the Casinos along the sea-board - his version of the game was susceptible to cheating with fixed dice. Later in that century John Winn revised the rules so that gamblers could bet for or against the roller which altered the effectiveness of ‘fixed’ dice in the game and proved a highly successful adaptation. As the game moved west with the frontier, the modern Casino game of Craps was established in America.
Do’s and don’ts when shooting Craps.
If you intend starting to play the game of Craps in a Casino you’d be well advised to start in a game with low stakes, at least until you feel you fully understand the rules and betting system. Even as a novice you will be invited to be the ‘shooter’; the person rolling the dice, but I wouldn’t set out to be the first person to do that in a game until you’ve seen some other people doing it first - it’s not quite as simple as ‘just’ rolling dice. If you’re offered the chance to be the shooter but don’t quite feel ready; just pass on the offer to the next available player. In a casino there’ll be four staff around the table: A stickman who calls the dice roll and returns the dice to the shooter, a boxman guarding the chips and two base dealers collecting and paying bets. The stickman is the person who controls the dice. It will be him or her that will offer you a choice of dice, to select two from for rolling - so please don’t turn up at the Casino with a couple of your own dices in your pocket! Once offered the dice you should only handle them with one hand, otherwise you could arise suspicions that you’re cheating by ‘palming’ the dice and substituting ones that were not offered by the stickman. Another expectation on the shooter is to roll the dice so that they bounce off one of the tables walls; this again reduces any suspicions of cheating by seeking to control the roll of the dice. The first throw of the dice in a round is called a ‘come-out roll’, after the come-out roll you shouldn’t say the number seven as it’s considered bad luck, instead refer to ‘big red’!