Be cunning, play clever, and master craps the proper way!
Dice and dice games goes back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Current craps formed from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, but Hazard is said to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is theorized that Sir William’s soldiers gambled on Hazard amid a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the citadel’s name.
Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when exiled by the British, the French moved south and located sanctuary in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which was derived from the term for the non-winning throw of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi scows and throughout the country. A few think the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the modern craps setup. He put in place the Do not Pass line so players could wager on the dice to not win. At another time, he established the boxes for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
