Be cunning, play smart, and master craps the right way!
Dice and dice games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is approximately 100 years old. Modern craps evolved from the old Anglo game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the ancestry of the game, although Hazard is said to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s knights wagered on Hazard through a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the castle’s name.
Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when displaced by the English, the French headed down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which was gotten from the name of the losing throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the nation. Most consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the modern craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to lose. Later, he established the spots for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.