Craps

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Dice and dice games date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is just about one hundred years old. Current craps come about from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. No one knows for sure the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It’s supposed that Sir William’s horsemen enjoyed Hazard during a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the fortification’s name.

Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when displaced by the British, the French relocated down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which is derived from the term for the non-winning throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and all over the nation. A good many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the current craps setup. He appended the Don’t Pass line so players can bet on the dice to lose. Later, he developed the spaces for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.