Learn to Play Craps – Pointers and Tactics: The Background of Craps

Be cunning, play cunning, and master craps the right way!

Dice and dice games date back to the Crusades, but current craps is just about one hundred years old. Current craps developed from the old English game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It is presumed that Sir William’s soldiers gambled on Hazard during a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.

Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when exiled by the English, the French headed down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which was gotten from the name of the losing throw of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and all over the nation. A great many acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the current craps setup. He appended the Do not Pass line so players can bet on the dice to lose. Later, he created the spots for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.