Be clever, play clever, and become versed in craps the correct way!
Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps evolved from the old Anglo game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the birth of the game, however Hazard is said to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s supposed that Sir William’s paladins enjoyed Hazard amid a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.
Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when expelled by the English, the French relocated south and settled in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their best-loved game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which is derived from the name of the losing toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi riverboats and across the country. A few consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In 1907, Winn built the current craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to lose. At another time, he invented the spots for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.