Learn to Play Craps – Hints and Schemes: The Background of Craps
Be smart, play cunning, and become versed in craps the correct way!
Dice and dice games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is approximately 100 years old. Current craps developed from the old Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the ancestry of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It is believed that Sir William’s knights played Hazard during a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the castle’s name.
Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when expelled by the English, the French relocated down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which is acquired from the term for the bad luck toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi barges and throughout the country. A good many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In 1907, Winn built the modern craps setup. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to lose. Later, he established the spots for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.