Learn to Play Craps – Pointers and Schemes: The Past of Craps
Be clever, play clever, and become versed in craps the right way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Crusades, but current craps is only about one hundred years old. Current craps developed from the old Anglo game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It is supposed that Sir William’s soldiers played Hazard during a blockade on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the fortress’s name.
Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when expelled by the English, the French headed south and found safety in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which is derived from the term for the losing toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi barges and all over the country. Most think the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the current craps layout. He appended the Don’t Pass line so players could bet on the dice to not win. Later, he designed the boxes for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.