Be clever, play clever, and become versed in craps the right way!
Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Crusades, but current craps is only about one hundred years old. Current craps come about from the old Anglo game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the beginnings of the game, but Hazard is said to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is believed that Sir William’s soldiers wagered on Hazard amid a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the castle’s name.
Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when driven away by the British, the French headed south and settled in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which is gotten from the name of the losing toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi scows and throughout the nation. Most acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the modern craps layout. He appended the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to not win. Later, he created the spaces for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.