Become Versed in Craps – Hints and Schemes: The Past of Craps

Be smart, play cunning, and become versed in craps the ideal way!

Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is only about a century old. Current craps formed from the old English game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s knights gambled on Hazard amid a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was gotten from the fortification’s name.

Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when driven away by the British, the French headed south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which was derived from the name of the losing toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi river boats and all over the nation. Most consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In 1907, Winn built the current craps setup. He put in place the Do not Pass line so players could wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he designed the spots for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.