Be clever, play cunning, and pickup craps the proper way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Current craps evolved from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the origin of the game, however Hazard is said to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It is supposed that Sir William’s soldiers wagered on Hazard amid a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.
Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when expelled by the British, the French headed south and discovered refuge in the south of Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their best-loved game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it fair mathematically. It is believed that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which was derived from the name of the bad luck toss of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and across the country. A few consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In the early 1900s, 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 invented the spaces for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.