Be cunning, play cunning, and become versed in craps the right way!
Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is only about one hundred years old. Modern craps formed from the 12th Century Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the ancestry of the game, but Hazard is said to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It is presumed that Sir William’s knights gambled on Hazard during a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the citadel’s name.
Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when expelled by the English, the French moved south and settled in southern Louisiana where they after a while became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was acquired from the term for the losing toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and throughout the nation. Many acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the modern craps layout. He created the Don’t Pass line so players could wager on the dice to lose. At another time, he established the spaces for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.