Become Versed in Craps – Tricks and Schemes: The History of Craps
Be smart, play smart, and master craps the right way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is only about a century old. Current craps developed from the old Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the birth of the game, however Hazard is said to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s knights bet on Hazard amid a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the fortification’s name.
Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when banished by the British, the French moved south and located refuge in southern Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which is gotten from the term for the non-winning toss of two in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi barges and throughout the country. Many think the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In 1907, Winn designed the current craps setup. He created the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to not win. At another time, he created the boxes for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.