Pickup Craps – Hints and Schemes: The History of Craps


Be brilliant, play smart, and become versed in craps the correct way!

Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is only about 100 years old. Current craps developed from the 12th Century Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It is supposed that Sir William’s paladins gambled on Hazard amid a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.

Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when displaced by the English, the French relocated down south and located refuge in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their best-loved game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which is gotten from the name of the non-winning toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi riverboats and throughout the nation. Most acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In 1907, Winn designed the modern craps layout. He appended the Don’t Pass line so players could bet on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he established the spaces for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.

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