Be smart, play cunning, and learn how to play craps the proper way!
Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is only about one hundred years old. Modern craps evolved from the ancient English game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the origin of the game, but Hazard is said to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It is theorized that Sir William’s knights bet on Hazard amid a blockade on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the citadel’s name.
Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when banished by the English, the French moved south and settled in southern Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it fair mathematically. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which is acquired from the term for the non-winning toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and all over the country. Most consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In 1907, Winn created the current craps setup. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so players could wager on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he developed the boxes for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.