Ten Interesting Facts About the Classic Dice Game Craps

There is nothing better than playing Craps at a table full in a casino. It’s fast, exciting and because you get to throw the dice yourself you feel part of the game and that you control the luck. If you look deep into this games origins and history you will find it way more interesting than you would have before because it might seem like a classic, simple casino game at heart, but it really is more interesting than you could possibly imagine.

Its Not Doing Well Online

You might find this strange, but the classic casino game of craps has not been so popular since moving online. Once upon a time, it was THE most popular casino table game, played by millions and enjoyed by many more. But since moving to online casinos it doesn’t even make it into the top 10 games across many of the big-name casino sites.

It’s Not Called Craps!

OK, so these days most people will indeed call it Craps, but when it was first invented in 1788 it was called “Krabs”, but as the inventor told more and more people about the game they all started to call it Crabs and then eventually it was continually called Craps, but that really wasn’t its name.

Lucky Number 7

When it comes to odds the most common number to appear should be lucky number 7 because it has six unique combinations that give it a 16.67% chance of appearing. However, in true random fashion, almost all casinos have reported at least one night in which that number never appeared.

The History of Craps Dates Back to Medevil Times

The inventor of Craps (Bernard Xavier Philippe) admitted his game Craps was just a variation on the French game of Hazard which was first mentioned in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in the 14th century!

The Longest Roll Was Over 4 Hours Long

Remember when I told you that several casinos reported never rolling a 7? On one of those nights when that happened Patricia Demauro a grandmother from New Jersey stayed on the same table and again never rolled a 7 and just kept rolling for over 4 hours! In the end, she gave up and went home because she was feeling tired. After all those rolls who could blame her!

The Biggest Win on a Craps Table Was $1 Million

The biggest win on a craps table in California Casino, Las Vegas was done by Stanley Fujitake in May 1989. It took him over 3 hours to achieve this amount and he rolled a total of 118 times before passing the dice to the next player. Still, walking away from the table with $1 million in winnings is no bad move.

You Too Can Join The The Golden Arm Club

The reason I bring this up now is that it was first started by Stanley Fujitake and this award is given to any player who rolls over an hour on one table, without rolling a 7 and there are currently thousands of members who for all intents and purposes were nothing but extra lucky even when many of them never won anything more than the money they arrived on the table with.

All Casino Dice Are Transparent

You might have thought that casino dice are always transparent because they look cool, but in reality, it is to make sure the dice are not tampered with or weighted. This is to protect you the payer as well as the house casino. Yes, loaded dice really was a thing during mob times.

You Always Play With 5 Dice

But you only roll 2 of them I hear you cry! But at the start of your throw, you are always given a selection of dice which is normally 5 or more. Then you pick the two you like the look of, but of course, they are all the same down to nano-precision by the dice makers.

Sharp Edged Dice

Have you ever noticed that the dice on a craps table has super-flat, sharp edges? The reason for this is so they stick better to the table and stop faster keeping the flow of the game much faster which of course means more money for the casino.

Have you ever rolled the dice on a craps table, or have you ever met anyone interesting on it? Do let us know in the comments below.