Learn to Wager on Craps – Tips and Schemes: the History of Craps

February 5th, 2010 by Kingston Leave a reply »
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Dice and dice games go back to the Crusades, but modern day craps is only about one hundred years old. Current craps evolved from the very old English game called Hazard. No one knows for sure the beginnings of the game, but Hazard is considered to have been made up by the British man, Sir William of Tyre, in the 1300’s. It’s theorized that Sir William’s knights played Hazard for the duration of a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was developed from the castle’s name.

Early French colonists brought the dice game Hazard to Canada (the colony of Acadia, which is now Nova Scotia). In the 1700s, when driven away by the British, the French headed south and happen upon safety in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the dice game and developed it to be more statistically attractive. It’s stated that the Cajuns changed the name of the game to craps, which was developed from the name of the losing throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the union. Many consider the die maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the current craps table design. He added the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to not win. Later, he created the spots for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big eight, and Hardways.

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