Learn to Play Craps – Tricks and Techniques: The History of Craps
Be smart, play clever, and pickup craps the correct way!
Dice and dice games date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is just about a century old. Current craps come about from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody knows for sure the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is said to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It is presumed that Sir William’s soldiers gambled on Hazard amid a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was gotten from the fortress’s name.
Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when driven away by the British, the French headed down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s believed that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which is derived from the name of the bad luck toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the nation. Most think the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In 1907, Winn developed the current craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so players could bet on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he designed the boxes for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.