Be clever, play brilliant, and master craps the right way!
Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is approximately a century old. Current craps formed from the 12th Century English game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for certain the birth of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s paladins bet on Hazard through a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the fortress’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when driven away by the British, the French headed down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it fair mathematically. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which was derived from the name of the losing throw of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi barges and all over the country. A few consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the current craps setup. He appended the Do not Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to lose. Later, he invented the boxes for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.