Be clever, play clever, and become versed in craps the right way!
Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is approximately 100 years old. Current craps formed from the 12th Century English game called Hazard. No one knows for certain the ancestry of the game, but Hazard is said to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It is theorized that Sir William’s soldiers wagered on Hazard during a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.
Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when displaced by the British, the French relocated down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which was acquired from the name of the losing throw of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and throughout the nation. Most acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the modern craps layout. He added the Don’t Pass line so players can wager on the dice to not win. Afterwards, he developed the spots for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.