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Be smart, play cunning, and become versed in craps the ideal way!
Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Current craps developed from the old English game called Hazard. No one knows for certain the ancestry of the game, although Hazard is said to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It is presumed that Sir William’s soldiers enjoyed Hazard through a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.
Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when expelled by the British, the French moved south and found sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which was derived from the name of the non-winning toss of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi scows and throughout the country. Most consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In 1907, Winn developed the current craps layout. He created the Don’t Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to lose. Later, he developed the spots for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
