Be clever, play clever, and learn how to play craps the ideal way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is just about 100 years old. Modern craps come about from the ancient English game called Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, however Hazard is said to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It is believed that Sir William’s knights gambled on Hazard through a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the castle’s name.
Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when banished by the English, the French moved south and located sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was derived from the term for the bad luck toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi scows and throughout the nation. A few think the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the modern craps setup. He created the Do not Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to lose. Later, he created the boxes for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.