Be clever, play smart, and learn how to play craps the right way!
Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is only about 100 years old. Modern craps developed from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the birth of the game, but Hazard is said to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It is theorized that Sir William’s soldiers gambled on Hazard amid a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the citadel’s name.
Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when banished by the British, the French relocated down south and located refuge in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which was acquired from the term for the bad luck toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi scows and all over the country. Many acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In 1907, Winn designed the current craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so players could bet on the dice to lose. At another time, he created the boxes for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
