Become Versed in Craps – Pointers and Tactics: The Background of Craps
Be brilliant, play clever, and learn how to play craps the right way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Crusades, but current craps is just about a century old. Current craps come about from the ancient Anglo game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the birth of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s knights gambled on Hazard during a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when banished by the British, the French moved down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their best-loved game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which is derived from the term for the non-winning toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi barges and all over the nation. A good many think the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In 1907, Winn created the modern craps layout. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so players could bet on the dice to not win. At another time, he created the spaces for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.