Be a Master of Craps – Pointers and Schemes: The History of Craps
Be smart, play smart, and become versed in craps the ideal way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps come about from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the origin of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It is supposed that Sir William’s horsemen wagered on Hazard during a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the fortress’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when driven away by the British, the French headed down south and discovered refuge in southern Louisiana where they after a while became Cajuns. When they were driven out of 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 altered the title to craps, which was derived from the name of the non-winning throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi river boats and across the nation. A few consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In 1907, Winn created the current craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to not win. Later, he designed the spaces for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.