Master Craps – Tips and Techniques: The Background of Craps
Be brilliant, play clever, and become versed in craps the correct way!
Dice and dice games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is approximately a century old. Current craps evolved from the 12th Century English game called Hazard. Nobody knows for sure the birth of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s paladins bet on Hazard through a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the citadel’s name.
Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when banished by the British, the French relocated down south and discovered safety in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their best-loved game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which is derived from the name of the bad luck toss of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and across the nation. Many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In 1907, Winn developed the current craps layout. He created the Do not Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he designed the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
