Be clever, play smart, and pickup craps the right way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps developed from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody knows for sure the birth of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s knights played Hazard through a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.
Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when banished by the British, the French headed down south and located safety in southern Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it fair mathematically. It is said that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which was acquired from the name of the bad luck throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi barges and across the nation. Many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the current craps setup. He added the Don’t Pass line so gamblers can wager on the dice to lose. At another time, he established the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
