Learn to Play Craps – Pointers and Plans: The Background of Craps
Be brilliant, play smart, and discover how to play craps the proper way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately 100 years old. Modern craps come about from the old English game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, however Hazard is said to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It’s believed that Sir William’s horsemen enjoyed Hazard amid a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.
Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when expelled by the English, the French relocated down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which is acquired from the name of the non-winning throw of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the country. Many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the modern craps setup. He created the Do not Pass line so players can wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he established the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.