Pickup Craps – Tricks and Techniques: The Background of Craps
Be cunning, play clever, and learn how to play craps the correct way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Crusades, but current craps is only about a century old. Current craps developed from the old Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the birth of the game, but Hazard is said to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s horsemen gambled on Hazard during a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the citadel’s name.
Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when driven away by the English, the French headed down south and discovered refuge 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 streamlined the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which is derived from the name of the losing toss of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi barges and throughout the nation. Many acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In 1907, Winn developed the current craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so players could wager on the dice to lose. Later, he designed the spaces for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.