Be cunning, play cunning, and pickup craps the proper way!
Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps come about from the ancient English game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the origin of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It is believed that Sir William’s horsemen played Hazard amid a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the citadel’s name.
Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when driven away by the English, the French relocated south and settled in southern 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 modernized the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s believed that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which was derived from the term for the losing throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi river boats and across the country. Most consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In 1907, Winn built the modern craps layout. He created the Do not Pass line so players could bet on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he developed the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
