Master Craps – Tricks and Techniques: The Background of Craps
Be smart, play smart, and pickup craps the ideal way!
Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Crusades, but current craps is only about one hundred years old. Current craps come about from the old English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for sure the origin of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It is theorized that Sir William’s soldiers wagered on Hazard amid a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the castle’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when expelled by the English, the French headed down south and found sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which was acquired from the name of the losing throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi barges and all over the country. A few think the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the current craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so players could bet on the dice to lose. Later, he created the spots for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.