Master Craps – Pointers and Techniques: The Background of Craps
Be cunning, play smart, and master craps the proper way!
Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is only about one hundred years old. Current craps developed from the ancient Anglo game referred to as Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the ancestry of the game, but Hazard is said to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It is theorized that Sir William’s paladins bet on Hazard through a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the citadel’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when banished by the British, the French relocated down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which is gotten from the term for the losing throw of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi barges and all over the nation. A great many think the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In 1907, Winn developed the current craps layout. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so players could bet on the dice to not win. Later, he developed the spots for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.