Be cunning, play clever, and pickup craps the proper way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is only about one hundred years old. Current craps formed from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the birth of the game, however Hazard is said to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It is supposed that Sir William’s soldiers gambled on Hazard during a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.
Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when driven away by the British, the French relocated south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which is derived from the name of the bad luck throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi barges and throughout the country. A few think the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the current craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he developed the spots for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
