Craps

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Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Crusades, but current craps is only about 100 years old. Modern craps developed from the ancient Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for sure the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is said to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s soldiers wagered on Hazard during a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the fortification’s name.

Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when displaced by the British, the French relocated down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their best-loved game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which was derived from the term for the losing toss of two 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 maker John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the current craps setup. He put in place the Do not Pass line so gamblers can wager on the dice to lose. Later, he designed the spaces for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.