Become Versed in Craps – Tricks and Plans: The Background of Craps

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Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is only about a century old. Modern craps formed from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the ancestry of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s horsemen gambled on Hazard during a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.

Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when displaced by the British, the French headed down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which is acquired from the term for the non-winning toss of two in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi barges and across the nation. A good many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn developed the current craps setup. He added the Don’t Pass line so players can wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he designed the spaces for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.