Become Versed in Craps – Tips and Strategies: The History of Craps
Posted in Craps on 04/09/2026 01:25 pm by Philip
Be smart, play cunning, and become versed in craps the right way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is only about 100 years old. Current craps formed from the 12th Century Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for certain the birth of the game, however Hazard is said to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It is presumed that Sir William’s soldiers played Hazard through a blockade on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the fortress’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when displaced by the British, the French relocated down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it fair mathematically. It is said that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which was derived from the term for the losing throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi scows and all over the nation. A few acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the current craps setup. He appended the Do not Pass line so gamblers can wager on the dice to lose. Later, he developed the spaces for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.