Be clever, play smart, and become versed in craps the correct way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but current craps is just about a century old. Modern craps formed from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the origin of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It’s supposed that Sir William’s soldiers played Hazard during a blockade on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.
Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when displaced by the British, the French moved south and located safety in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their best-loved game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it fair mathematically. It is believed that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which is derived from the term for the bad luck toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi river boats and across the country. A few consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In 1907, Winn designed the current craps setup. He appended the Don’t Pass line so players could wager on the dice to not win. At another time, he created the spaces for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.