Be cunning, play cunning, and become versed in craps the proper way!
Dice and dice games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps formed from the old English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It is theorized that Sir William’s soldiers bet on Hazard amid a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when banished by the British, the French relocated down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which is acquired from the term for the non-winning toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the nation. A great many think the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the current craps layout. He appended the Don’t Pass line so players could bet on the dice to not win. At another time, he developed the spaces for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
