Pickup Craps – Tricks and Tactics: The Past of Craps
Be smart, play cunning, and become versed in craps the correct way!
Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is approximately 100 years old. Current craps come about from the ancient Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for certain the origin of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It is theorized that Sir William’s paladins played Hazard during a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was gotten from the castle’s name.
Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when displaced by the British, the French headed down south and located safety in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their best-loved game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which is acquired from the name of the losing throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the nation. A great many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn developed the current craps layout. He created the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to lose. Later, he created the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.