Be a Master of Craps – Hints and Strategies: The History of Craps


Be smart, play smart, and learn how to play craps the proper way!

Dice and dice games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is approximately one hundred years old. Modern craps evolved from the old English game called Hazard. No one knows for certain the birth of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s horsemen gambled on Hazard through a blockade on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the castle’s name.

Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when exiled by the English, the French relocated south and settled in southern Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which is derived from the term for the losing toss of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi riverboats and across the country. A good many think the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the current craps setup. He put in place the Do not Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he invented the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.

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