Learn to Play Craps – Tips and Strategies: The History of Craps
Be cunning, play cunning, and learn how to play craps the correct way!
Dice and dice games goes back to the Crusades, but modern craps is just about a century old. Modern craps developed from the ancient Anglo game referred to as Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the ancestry of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s horsemen enjoyed Hazard amid a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.
Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when expelled by the British, the French relocated south and located safety in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s believed that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which was derived from the term for the losing toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi riverboats and across the nation. Most think the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In 1907, Winn built the current craps layout. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so players could bet on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he developed the spots for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
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