Master Craps – Tricks and Tactics: The Background of Craps
Be clever, play clever, and master craps the correct way!
Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is only about a century old. Current craps evolved from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is said to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s paladins bet on Hazard amid a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. 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 Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which was gotten from the name of the bad luck throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and across the country. Most consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the modern craps setup. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so players could wager on the dice to lose. Later, he established the boxes for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.