Be clever, play clever, and become versed in craps the right way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is just about a century old. Current craps formed from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. No one knows for certain the birth of the game, however Hazard is said to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s horsemen played Hazard during a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was gotten from the castle’s name.
Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when displaced by the English, the French relocated south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their best-loved game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was gotten from the term for the bad luck throw of two in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the country. A great many think the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the modern craps setup. He put in place the Do not Pass line so gamblers can wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he established the boxes for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
