Learn to Play Craps – Tips and Plans: The Past of Craps
Posted in Craps on 09/02/2025 11:25 am by Philip
Be clever, play brilliant, and become versed in craps the proper way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves date all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is approximately 100 years old. Current craps come about from the 12th Century Anglo game called Hazard. No one knows for sure the beginnings of the game, however Hazard is said to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It is presumed that Sir William’s soldiers bet on Hazard through a blockade on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the citadel’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when banished by the British, the French headed down south and found sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s believed that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which was acquired from the name of the bad luck toss of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and throughout the country. A few think the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the modern craps setup. He put in place the Do not Pass line so players could wager on the dice to lose. Later, he invented the spots for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.