Be cunning, play clever, and master craps the proper way!
Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is only about a century old. Modern craps evolved from the old Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is said to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It is presumed that Sir William’s knights enjoyed Hazard through a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the citadel’s name.
Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when driven away by the British, the French moved south and settled in southern Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their best-loved game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which is gotten from the name of the bad luck throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi river boats and all over the country. Most think the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In 1907, Winn created the current craps layout. He added the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to lose. Later, he created the boxes for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
