Learn to Play Craps – Tips and Strategies: The History of Craps

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

Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is only about one hundred years old. Modern craps developed from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for certain the origin of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It is presumed that Sir William’s knights enjoyed Hazard during a blockade on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.

Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when exiled by the English, the French headed south and found refuge in the south of Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it fair mathematically. It is believed that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which is acquired from the term for the losing throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi river boats and throughout the nation. Many think the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the modern craps setup. He added the Don’t Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to not win. At another time, he created the spaces for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.


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