05.13
Pickup Craps – Hints and Techniques: The Past of Craps
Be clever, play smart, and discover how to play craps the right way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately 100 years old. Current craps evolved from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s horsemen played Hazard through a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the castle’s name.
Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when displaced by the British, the French moved south and discovered safety in southern Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which was acquired from the name of the non-winning throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi river boats and throughout the country. A few think the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the current craps setup. He put in place the Do not Pass line so players could wager on the dice to not win. Later, he established the spots for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.