Pickup Craps – Tricks and Plans: The History of Craps

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Dice and dice games goes back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps evolved from the old English game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the birth of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It’s supposed that Sir William’s horsemen enjoyed Hazard amid a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.

Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when driven away by the British, the French headed south and found safety in southern Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was derived from the term for the non-winning throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and throughout the country. A good many think the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the current craps layout. He appended the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he invented the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.