Be brilliant, play smart, and learn how to play craps the correct 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 English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the ancestry of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s horsemen played Hazard during a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the castle’s name.
Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when expelled by the British, the French moved down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which was acquired from the term for the non-winning throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and across the nation. A few acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn developed the current craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so players could bet on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he created the spots for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
