Understanding how to Bet on Craps – Tips and Schemes: the History of Craps

[ English | Deutsch | Español | Français | Italiano ]

Dice and dice games go back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is only about one hundred years old. Current craps evolved from the ancient English game known as Hazard. No one knows for sure the birth of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s rumored that Sir William’s knights bet on Hazard for the duration of a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was developed from the citadel’s name.

Initial French colonists brought the dice game Hazard to Canada (the colony of Acadia, which is now Nova Scotia). In the 18th century, when driven away by the English, the French moved south and found sanctuary in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and developed it to be more mathematically honest. It is stated that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was attained from the term for the non-winning throw of 2 in the dice game of Hazard, called "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and around the nation. Many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the modern craps table design. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so individuals could wager on the shooter to lose. Later, he created the spots for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big eight, and Hardways.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.