Be clever, play clever, and become versed in craps the right way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves date all the way back to the Crusades, but current craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps developed from the ancient English game called Hazard. No one knows for sure the origin of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It is presumed that Sir William’s paladins gambled on Hazard through a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortification’s name.
Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when displaced by the British, the French relocated down south and settled 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 streamlined the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s said that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was acquired from the name of the losing toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi river boats and all over the country. A few consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the modern craps layout. He appended the Do not Pass line so players can bet on the dice to not win. At another time, he developed the spots for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
