Learn to Play Craps – Tips and Techniques: The Background of Craps
Posted in Craps on 09/08/2025 05:25 am by Donovan
Be clever, play smart, and pickup craps the correct way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is just about a century old. Current craps formed from the old English game called Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the origin of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It’s believed that Sir William’s horsemen enjoyed Hazard through a blockade on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the fortress’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when driven away by the British, the French headed south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their best-loved game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which is derived from the name of the non-winning throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and across the nation. Most consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the current craps layout. He created the Do not Pass line so players could bet on the dice to lose. Later, he designed the spots for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.