Be a Master of Craps – Hints and Tactics: The Past of Craps
Be smart, play brilliant, and learn how to play craps the right way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Crusades, but modern craps is only about a century old. Current craps evolved from the ancient English game called Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the origin 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 horsemen played Hazard during a blockade on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the fortification’s name.
Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when expelled by the British, the French moved south and settled in southern Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which was derived from the term for the non-winning toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi riverboats and throughout the country. A good many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the modern craps setup. He created the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to lose. At another time, he developed the spaces for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.