Become Versed in Craps – Tips and Plans: The History of Craps
Be brilliant, play brilliant, and master craps the right way!
Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is just about a century old. Current craps developed from the old Anglo game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the birth of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s horsemen bet on Hazard amid a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when banished by the English, the French relocated south and settled in southern Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it fair mathematically. It is said 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, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi river boats and throughout the country. Many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In 1907, Winn created the modern craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so gamblers can wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he designed the boxes for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.