Be a Master of Craps – Hints and Plans: The Background of Craps
Be smart, play cunning, and become versed in craps the right way!
Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is just about one hundred years old. Modern craps come about from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. No one knows for certain the origin of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s paladins bet on Hazard amid a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the citadel’s name.
Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when displaced by the English, the French moved south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their best-loved game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which was derived from the name of the bad luck toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and throughout the country. A good many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the current craps layout. He added the Don’t Pass line so players can wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he established the spots for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.