Pickup Craps – Tricks and Schemes: The Background of Craps
Be clever, play cunning, and pickup craps the correct way!
Dice and dice games date back to the Crusades, but current craps is just about one hundred years old. Modern craps evolved from the old English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the origin of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It is theorized that Sir William’s horsemen enjoyed Hazard amid a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the castle’s name.
Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when expelled by the British, the French moved down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was derived from the name of the non-winning throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi river boats and across the country. Many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In 1907, Winn designed the modern craps setup. He added the Don’t Pass line so players can bet on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he created the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
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