Become Versed in Craps – Hints and Schemes: The Background of Craps
Be clever, play brilliant, and master craps the correct way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is approximately one hundred years old. Current craps come about from the 12th Century English game called Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the origin of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It is presumed that Sir William’s horsemen bet 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 brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when driven away by the English, the French relocated down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their best-loved game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which was acquired 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 river boats and throughout the nation. Many think the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn developed the current craps layout. He appended the Do not Pass line so gamblers can wager on the dice to lose. At another time, he designed the spots for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.