Pickup Craps – Hints and Techniques: The History of Craps
Be clever, play cunning, and master craps the right way!
Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is only about a century old. Modern craps come about from the ancient English game called Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the origin of the game, but Hazard is said to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It is presumed that Sir William’s knights played Hazard amid a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortification’s name.
Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when banished by the English, the French headed south and settled in southern Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their best-loved game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which was gotten from the name of the losing throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi barges and throughout the nation. Most acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the modern craps setup. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so players could bet on the dice to lose. Later, he created the spaces for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.