Learn to Play Craps – Pointers and Tactics: The History of Craps
Be smart, play clever, and pickup craps the correct way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Crusades, but current craps is just about one hundred years old. Modern craps come about from the ancient English game called Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the birth of the game, although Hazard is said to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is believed that Sir William’s horsemen enjoyed Hazard through a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the castle’s name.
Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when banished by the English, the French moved down south and discovered refuge in southern Louisiana where they after a while became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which was acquired from the term for the bad luck throw of two in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi scows and all over the country. A good many think the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the current craps layout. He appended the Don’t Pass line so players could bet on the dice to not win. At another time, he created the spots for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.