Master Craps – Tips and Schemes: The Background of Craps

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but current craps is approximately 100 years old. Modern craps formed from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. No one knows for certain the ancestry of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It is theorized that Sir William’s paladins enjoyed Hazard through a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the fortress’s name.

Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when driven away by the English, the French headed south and located safety in southern Louisiana where they after a while became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which is derived from the term for the bad luck toss of two in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi barges and all over the country. Most consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the modern craps layout. He put in place the Do not Pass line so players can bet on the dice to lose. Later, he designed the spaces for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.