Master Craps – Tips and Techniques: The Past of Craps

Be cunning, play cunning, and become versed in craps the right way!

Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is just about one hundred years old. Current craps formed from the old English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the birth of the game, although Hazard is said to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is theorized that Sir William’s soldiers gambled on Hazard during a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.

Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when driven away by the British, the French headed south and discovered safety in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it fair mathematically. It is believed that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which is acquired from the name of the losing toss of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi barges and all over the country. Many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn developed the current craps setup. He created the Do not Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to lose. Later, he invented the spots for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.

  1. No comments yet.

  1. No trackbacks yet.

You must be logged in to post a comment.