Master Craps – Pointers and Strategies: The Background of Craps
Be clever, play smart, and learn how to play craps the correct way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is approximately one hundred years old. Modern craps evolved from the 12th Century Anglo game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the beginnings of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s paladins gambled on Hazard during a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortification’s name.
Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when displaced by the British, the French headed down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their best-loved game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which was derived from the term for the non-winning throw of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and across the country. Most consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the current craps layout. He created the Don’t Pass line so players can bet on the dice to not win. Later, he invented the spots for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
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