Master Craps – Tricks and Techniques: The Background of Craps
Be clever, play cunning, and become versed in craps the right way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Crusades, but current craps is approximately 100 years old. Current craps evolved from the 12th Century Anglo game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the origin of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It is supposed that Sir William’s soldiers wagered on Hazard through a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the fortification’s name.
Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when exiled by the English, the French moved south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which is gotten from the name of the non-winning throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and all over the country. A great many acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the modern craps setup. He appended the Do not Pass line so players could wager on the dice to not win. Later, he established the spots for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.