Be smart, play brilliant, and become versed in craps the proper way!
Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps developed from the ancient English game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s paladins bet on Hazard during a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the castle’s name.
Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when banished by the English, the French moved south and located refuge in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which is derived from the name of the losing throw of 2 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 maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the modern craps setup. He appended the Do not Pass line so players can wager on the dice to not win. Later, he developed the spaces for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
