Be smart, play cunning, and pickup craps the proper way!
Dice and dice games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps evolved from the 12th Century English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for sure the origin of the game, however Hazard is said to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s supposed that Sir William’s paladins enjoyed Hazard amid a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when banished by the English, the French headed south and discovered sanctuary in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s believed that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which is derived from the name of the bad luck toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the country. Most think the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In 1907, Winn developed the modern craps setup. He appended the Don’t Pass line so players can bet on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he established the spaces for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
