Be brilliant, play clever, and become versed in craps the right way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Crusades, but current craps is approximately one hundred years old. Modern craps developed from the old English game called Hazard. No one knows for certain the beginnings of the game, however Hazard is said to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It is believed that Sir William’s horsemen gambled on Hazard through a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortification’s name.
Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when driven away by the British, the French relocated down south and discovered sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which was gotten from the name of the losing 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 nation. A few think the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In 1907, Winn created the current craps setup. He added the Do not Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he invented the spots for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.