Pickup Craps – Hints and Plans: The Background of Craps
Be clever, play smart, and pickup craps the correct way!
Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is approximately a century old. Current craps formed from the old Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s supposed that Sir William’s paladins gambled on Hazard during a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the fortress’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when displaced by the British, the French headed down south and found sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their best-loved game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which was acquired from the name of the bad luck throw of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi scows and throughout the country. Most consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In 1907, Winn created the modern craps setup. He put in place the Do not Pass line so players can bet on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he developed the spaces for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.