02.23
Be a Master of Craps – Hints and Strategies: The History of Craps
Be smart, play cunning, and master craps the correct way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Current craps formed from the 12th Century English game called Hazard. Nobody knows for sure the ancestry of the game, although Hazard is said to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s soldiers enjoyed Hazard during a blockade on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the castle’s name.
Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when expelled by the English, the French headed south and found refuge in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which is derived from the name of the bad luck throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and across the nation. A good many think the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the current craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so players could bet on the dice to not win. Later, he invented the spots for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.