Learn to Play Craps – Pointers and Plans: The Past of Craps

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is approximately 100 years old. Modern craps developed from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. No one knows for certain the birth of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It is presumed that Sir William’s horsemen bet on Hazard during a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.

Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when expelled by the English, the French moved south and settled in southern Louisiana where they after a while became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was gotten from the term for the non-winning toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi barges and throughout the nation. Many think the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the modern craps layout. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so players can wager on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he created the boxes for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.