Be cunning, play cunning, and discover how to play craps the correct way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is only about one hundred years old. Current craps evolved from the ancient English game called Hazard. Nobody knows for sure the beginnings of the game, but Hazard is said to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It’s supposed that Sir William’s soldiers bet on Hazard amid a blockade on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.
Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when displaced by the British, the French relocated south and found sanctuary in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it fair mathematically. It is said that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was gotten from the term for the bad luck throw of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi riverboats and throughout the country. A good many think the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the current craps setup. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so players could bet on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he established the spots for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.