Be smart, play cunning, and become versed in craps the ideal way!
Dice and dice games goes back to the Crusades, but current craps is only about a century old. Modern craps evolved from the 12th Century English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the origin of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s paladins wagered on Hazard during a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.
Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when driven away by the English, the French headed south and located refuge in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which is gotten from the term for the bad luck throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and all over the country. A good many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the current craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so players could bet on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he designed the spots for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.