Craps

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Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is just about a century old. Modern craps developed from the old Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for sure the beginnings of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It is presumed that Sir William’s horsemen enjoyed Hazard through a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the fortification’s name.

Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when expelled by the English, the French moved south and settled in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which is acquired from the name of the losing toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi barges and across the country. A few consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the current craps layout. He created the Do not Pass line so players could wager on the dice to not win. Later, he developed the spaces for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.