Craps

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Dice and dice games date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is only about a century old. Current craps developed from the old Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for sure the ancestry of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s paladins played Hazard through a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was gotten from the fortification’s name.

Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when expelled by the English, the French moved south and discovered sanctuary in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which is gotten from the term for the losing throw of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and throughout the nation. Most consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn developed the current craps layout. He created the Do not Pass line so players can wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he developed the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.