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

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is approximately 100 years old. Current craps developed from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the origin of the game, although Hazard is said to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It is theorized that Sir William’s knights wagered on Hazard through a blockade on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was gotten from the citadel’s name.

Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when exiled by the British, the French moved south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was acquired from the term for the bad luck toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the nation. Most acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the current craps setup. He created the Do not Pass line so players could wager on the dice to not win. At another time, he designed the spaces for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.