Be cunning, play clever, and learn how to play craps the proper way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but current craps is just about a century old. Current craps evolved from the old English game called Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the origin of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s paladins played Hazard through a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.
Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when driven away by the English, the French headed south and discovered safety in the south of Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it fair mathematically. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was derived from the term for the losing throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi river boats and all over the nation. A few consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the modern craps layout. He appended the Don’t Pass line so players could bet on the dice to lose. At another time, he developed the spaces for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
