Be clever, play smart, and become versed in craps the right way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves date all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is only about one hundred years old. Modern craps come about from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the origin of the game, although Hazard is said to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It is supposed that Sir William’s knights bet on Hazard through a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.
Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when displaced by the English, the French headed down south and discovered safety in southern Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their best-loved game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized 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 throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi river boats and across the country. A few acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the current craps layout. He put in place the Do not Pass line so players can wager on the dice to not win. At another time, he developed the spots for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.