Master Craps – Tips and Techniques: The History of Craps
Be brilliant, play clever, and master craps the proper way!
Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately 100 years old. Modern craps come about from the 12th Century Anglo game referred to as Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is said to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s soldiers played Hazard during a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.
Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when banished by the British, the French headed south and located safety in southern Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their best-loved game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which is derived from the name of the non-winning toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and all over the nation. A few consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In 1907, Winn created the modern craps setup. He added the Do not Pass line so gamblers can wager on the dice to lose. Later, he designed the boxes for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.