Be brilliant, play clever, and discover how to play craps the correct way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but current craps is just about one hundred years old. Modern craps evolved from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for certain the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It’s believed that Sir William’s horsemen gambled on Hazard during a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the castle’s name.
Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when driven away by the British, the French relocated down south and located refuge in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which was gotten from the name of the non-winning throw of two in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and throughout the country. Many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In 1907, Winn designed the current craps layout. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to not win. Later, he designed the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.