Pickup Craps – Pointers and Tactics: The Background of Craps
Be smart, play brilliant, and become versed in craps the right way!
Dice and dice games goes back to the Crusades, but modern craps is only about 100 years old. Modern craps formed from the old English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the beginnings of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s horsemen bet on Hazard through a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.
Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when driven away by the British, the French moved down south and discovered safety in the south of Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it fair mathematically. It is believed that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which is acquired from the term for the non-winning throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi scows and throughout the nation. A good many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In 1907, Winn designed the current craps layout. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so players can wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he invented the spots for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.