Be smart, play cunning, and learn how to play craps the ideal way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves date all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is approximately 100 years old. Current craps developed from the 12th Century English game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for sure the beginnings of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s paladins enjoyed Hazard amid a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.
Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when displaced by the English, the French headed south and located safety in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s believed that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which is acquired from the term for the bad luck toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and across the nation. A few consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the current craps setup. He added the Do not Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to not win. At another time, he invented the spaces for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.