Be cunning, play brilliant, and pickup craps the proper way!
Dice and dice games goes back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is just about a century old. Current craps evolved from the 12th Century Anglo game called Hazard. No one knows for sure the ancestry of the game, although Hazard is said to have been made up by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s knights wagered on Hazard through a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the castle’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when driven away by the British, the French relocated down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their best-loved 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 acquired from the term for the losing throw of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the nation. Many acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn developed the modern craps setup. He appended the Do not Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to lose. At another time, he established the boxes for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.