Be cunning, play smart, and become versed in craps the proper way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Crusades, but modern craps is just about a century old. Current craps come about from the old Anglo game called Hazard. No one knows for sure the birth of the game, however Hazard is said to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is presumed that Sir William’s horsemen played Hazard during a blockade on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortress’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when exiled by the British, the French moved south and found refuge in southern Louisiana where they after a while became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which is derived from the term for the losing throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi scows and all over the nation. Many acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In 1907, Winn developed the current craps setup. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to not win. At another time, he designed the spots for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.