Be smart, play brilliant, and become versed in craps the proper way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Crusades, but current craps is only about one hundred years old. Modern craps evolved from the old Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, however Hazard is said to have been discovered by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s paladins bet on Hazard during a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the castle’s name.
Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when displaced by the British, the French headed south and settled in southern Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which was derived 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 barges and throughout the nation. Most acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the current craps layout. He appended the Don’t Pass line so gamblers can wager on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he established the spaces for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.