Be cunning, play smart, and master craps the proper way!
Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Current craps formed from the 12th Century Anglo game called Hazard. No one knows for certain the origin of the game, although Hazard is said to have been made up by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s knights gambled on Hazard through a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.
Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when displaced by the British, the French headed down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their best-loved game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it fair mathematically. It is said that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which was acquired from the name of the bad luck throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi barges and throughout the nation. A few think the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the current craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so players could wager on the dice to lose. At another time, he designed the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.