Master Craps – Hints and Schemes: The History of Craps
Be clever, play clever, and pickup craps the right way!
Dice and dice games date back to the Crusades, but current craps is only about one hundred years old. Current craps come about from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is theorized that Sir William’s horsemen played Hazard through a blockade on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortification’s name.
Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when driven away by the English, the French headed down south and found refuge in the south of Louisiana where they after a while became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s believed that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which was derived from the term for the non-winning throw of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi river boats and throughout the country. A great many think the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In 1907, Winn created the modern craps setup. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to not win. At another time, he invented the spots for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.