What The Craps?
The game of craps as we know it today has somewhat contested origins. Some gaming historians trace the game’s history as far back as the Crusades. According to a number of historical sources, as soldiers drove pagans out from what was considered holy land, they passed the time by playing a much earlier version of craps called Hazard. Quite ironically, perhaps, many scholars believe that the origin of Hazard is in fact from the Arabic dice game called Al Zar. So perhaps, without consciously knowing it, the very soldiers who were zealously decimating non-Christian pagans were partaking of a gaming tradition whose origins lay with their enemies.