Does anyone here know how this game got its name? I don't know about anyone else here but it seems that it should have continued to be known as Hazards instead. Why did they change the name?
Yeah, I've always wondered about that myself. I've heard the term 'street craps' and I didn't really know the meaning behind it. Could it maybe mean that it's a less formal style of the game?
I know someone who says it came from the French name for it: crapaud. I'm not sure if that's right though because dice games have been played back as far as Roman times, although whether they played that a version of this precise game I don't know.
Thanks for the replies. These are just some of those things that you need answers to otherwise you never stop wondering about them, you know what I mean?
It is said that the name originated from an Arabic dice game called Al Zar, which means dice in Arabic. The Frenchmen could possibly have renamed it so as to distinguish themselves from the Englishmen. Craps sounds much better, in my opinion.
Zohan is right, the game was big with Englishmen first so to distinguish their game from the Englishmen, the french called it craps. Craps is another way to say crabs, which means a losing roll of 2.
It is actually interesting reading through these comments and getting to know a bit of history to the name. It was wise of the French to think of a way of distinguishing them from the Englishmen.
I say they could have chosen a better name, but that's just me! It's nice to get to know the history of the name anyway. I like that sort of trivia on the games I play.
