Be brilliant, play cunning, and pickup craps the proper way!
Dice and dice games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is approximately one hundred years old. Modern craps evolved from the 12th Century Anglo game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the ancestry of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s supposed that Sir William’s paladins wagered on Hazard during a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.
Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when banished by the British, the French headed south and discovered sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was derived 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 all over the nation. Many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In 1907, Winn built the current craps layout. He appended the Don’t Pass line so players can bet on the dice to lose. At another time, he designed the spots for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.