Become Versed in Craps – Tips and Strategies: The History of Craps
Be clever, play cunning, and pickup craps the right way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is just about 100 years old. Current craps formed from the old English game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is said to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It is theorized that Sir William’s horsemen wagered on Hazard through a blockade on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when expelled by the British, the French headed south and settled in southern Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which is gotten from the term for the non-winning throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and throughout the nation. Many acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the current craps setup. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he designed the spaces for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
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