Pickup Craps – Pointers and Tactics: The History of Craps
Be brilliant, play brilliant, and learn how to play craps the correct way!
Dice and dice games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps developed from the 12th Century English game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for certain the origin of the game, although Hazard is said to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It’s believed that Sir William’s horsemen bet on Hazard through a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.
Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when displaced by the British, the French headed south and discovered sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s 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, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi scows and throughout the country. A few acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the modern craps layout. He appended the Don’t Pass line so players can wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he invented the spots for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.