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Be a Master of Craps – Hints and Plans: The Past of Craps

Be clever, play smart, and pickup craps the correct way!

Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is only about 100 years old. Modern craps developed from the 12th Century English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the origin of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It is supposed that Sir William’s knights wagered on Hazard during a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the fortification’s name.

Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when banished by the English, the French headed down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it fair mathematically. It is said that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which was derived from the term for the losing toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and all over the nation. A good many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the current craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to not win. Later, he created the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.