Craps

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Current craps developed from the 12th Century Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the ancestry of the game, although Hazard is said to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It is believed that Sir William’s soldiers wagered on Hazard through a blockade on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortification’s name.

Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when exiled by the British, the French moved south and settled in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which is acquired from the term for the non-winning throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi scows and throughout the nation. A few consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In 1907, Winn developed the current craps setup. He appended the Do not Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to not win. Later, he invented the spots for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.