Be a Master of Craps – Hints and Plans: The History of Craps

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is just about one hundred years old. Modern craps developed from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, however Hazard is said to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It is supposed that Sir William’s knights played Hazard through a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the castle’s name.

Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when displaced by the British, the French moved down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they after a while became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their best-loved game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which was acquired from the name of the losing toss of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the country. Most acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In 1907, Winn built the current craps layout. He created the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to not win. At another time, he created the boxes for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.