Learn to Play Craps – Pointers and Strategies: The Past of Craps

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Dice and dice games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is only about a century old. Current craps evolved from the old Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for certain the ancestry of the game, although Hazard is said to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It’s believed that Sir William’s paladins gambled on Hazard during a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the castle’s name.

Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when banished by the English, the French headed south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it fair mathematically. It is said that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which was acquired from the term for the bad luck toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi riverboats and across the nation. Many think the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In 1907, Winn created the current craps layout. He put in place the Do not Pass line so players could bet on the dice to lose. At another time, he created the spaces for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.