Learn to Play Craps – Tips and Strategies: The History of Craps


Be cunning, play clever, and pickup craps the proper way!

Dice and dice games goes back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is just about one hundred years old. Modern craps come about from the 12th Century Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for certain the ancestry of the game, however Hazard is said to have been made up by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s knights played Hazard amid a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the castle’s name.

Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when banished by the British, the French headed south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which is derived from the name of the bad luck throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi scows and across the country. A great many acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In 1907, Winn built the current craps setup. He appended the Do not Pass line so players can bet on the dice to not win. At another time, he established the spots for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.

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