Be brilliant, play brilliant, and master craps the proper way!
Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Crusades, but current craps is approximately a century old. Current craps developed from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the beginnings of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s soldiers gambled on Hazard during a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.
Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when banished by the British, the French relocated south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which was derived from the term for the bad luck throw of two in the game of Hazard, known 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 founder of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the modern craps layout. He created the Do not Pass line so players could wager on the dice to not win. Later, he established the spaces for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.