Craps

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Dice and dice games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps formed from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. No one knows for sure the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s soldiers gambled on Hazard amid a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the castle’s name.

Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when expelled by the English, the French headed south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which is gotten from the name of the losing toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the country. A good many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the modern craps setup. He created the Do not Pass line so players can bet on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he invented the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.