Learn to Play Craps – Hints and Plans: The Past of Craps
Be smart, play cunning, and become versed in craps the correct way!
Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is just about a century old. Current craps formed from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody knows for sure the ancestry of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s supposed that Sir William’s horsemen enjoyed Hazard during a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the fortification’s name.
Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when expelled by the English, the French relocated south and located refuge in southern Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their best-loved game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it fair mathematically. It is believed that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which was acquired from the name of the losing throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi barges and all over the nation. Most think the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the modern craps setup. He put in place the Do not Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he developed the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.