Master Craps – Tricks and Tactics: The Background of Craps
Posted in Craps on 09/24/2015 01:21 pm by Philip
Be smart, play clever, and become versed in craps the right way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is only about 100 years old. Modern craps developed from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the birth of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s paladins gambled on Hazard through a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.
Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when exiled by the British, the French relocated south and discovered refuge in southern Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it fair mathematically. It is believed that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which was acquired from the term for the non-winning throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi riverboats and across the country. A good many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the modern craps layout. He created the Do not Pass line so players can wager on the dice to not win. Later, he invented the boxes for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.