Pickup Craps – Hints and Schemes: The Background of Craps

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Dice and dice games date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is just about 100 years old. Modern craps evolved from the 12th Century Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the ancestry of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It’s believed that Sir William’s paladins wagered on Hazard during a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.

Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when exiled by the English, the French headed south and found sanctuary in the south of Louisiana where they after a while became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which is gotten from the name of the non-winning toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi river boats and across the nation. Most consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the current craps layout. He appended the Do not Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to not win. Later, he established the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.