Pickup Craps – Tips and Techniques: The Past of Craps
Be brilliant, play cunning, and become versed in craps the ideal way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is only about a century old. Current craps come about from the 12th Century English game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the birth of the game, but Hazard is said to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s paladins bet on Hazard during a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortification’s name.
Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when expelled by the English, the French moved south and discovered refuge in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which was derived from the term for the bad luck throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and all over the country. A few acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the modern craps layout. He created the Don’t Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to lose. At another time, he invented the spaces for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.