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Master Craps – Tips and Techniques: The History of Craps
Be smart, play cunning, and learn how to play craps the right way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is only about 100 years old. Current craps come about from the old Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the birth of the game, however Hazard is said to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It is supposed that Sir William’s soldiers enjoyed Hazard amid a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the fortification’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when banished by the British, the French headed south and found sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their best-loved game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which is acquired from the term for the non-winning throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi scows and all over the country. Most acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In 1907, Winn built the current craps setup. He appended the Do not Pass line so players could bet on the dice to not win. Later, he created the spaces for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.