Be cunning, play brilliant, and master craps the right way!
Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is just about a century old. Modern craps formed from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for certain the birth of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is supposed that Sir William’s soldiers gambled on Hazard amid a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortification’s name.
Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when exiled by the English, the French headed down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their best-loved game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which is acquired from the name of the non-winning toss of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi riverboats and throughout the nation. Most consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In 1907, Winn created the current craps layout. He created the Do not Pass line so players can wager on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he invented the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
