Become Versed in Craps – Hints and Techniques: The Background of Craps

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Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Current craps formed from the 12th Century Anglo game referred to as Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It is theorized that Sir William’s horsemen played Hazard through a blockade on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortification’s name.

Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when banished by the British, the French relocated down south and found refuge in southern Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s believed that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which is gotten from the term for the non-winning throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi scows and all over the nation. Most think the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In 1907, Winn designed the current craps setup. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so players could wager on the dice to lose. At another time, he created the spaces for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.