Become Versed in Craps – Pointers and Schemes: The History of Craps
Be smart, play cunning, and learn how to play craps the right way!
Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is just about a century old. Modern craps developed from the 12th Century English game called Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the ancestry of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s horsemen wagered on Hazard amid a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.
Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when exiled by the English, the French headed south and settled in southern Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their best-loved game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it fair mathematically. It is said that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which was gotten from the term for the losing throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi scows and throughout the country. Most think the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the modern craps layout. He created the Do not Pass line so players can wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he created the spaces for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.