Learn to Play Craps – Tricks and Schemes: The Past of Craps
Be clever, play cunning, and master craps the correct way!
Dice and dice games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is only about a century old. Modern craps come about from the ancient English game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the origin of the game, although Hazard is said to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is theorized that Sir William’s soldiers wagered on Hazard during a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was gotten from the fortress’s name.
Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when driven away by the English, the French moved south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it fair mathematically. It is believed that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which was derived from the name of the losing throw of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi river boats and throughout the nation. A great many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn developed the current craps layout. He appended the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to not win. At another time, he invented the spots for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.