Be cunning, play clever, and pickup craps the correct way!
Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps formed from the ancient English game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the origin of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It’s believed that Sir William’s paladins gambled on Hazard during a blockade on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the castle’s name.
Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when displaced by the British, the French headed down south and found safety in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their best-loved game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which was acquired from the term for the bad luck toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi scows and across the nation. Most consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the modern craps setup. He appended the Do not Pass line so players can wager on the dice to lose. At another time, he developed the boxes for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.