Be smart, play clever, and become versed in craps the right way!

Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Crusades, but current craps is just about a century old. Modern craps come about from the old Anglo game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the birth of the game, but Hazard is said 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 during a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortress’s name.

Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when exiled by the British, the French headed down south and discovered safety in southern Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which was gotten from the term for the losing throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi barges and throughout the nation. Many acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the modern craps layout. He appended the Don’t Pass line so players can wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he designed the boxes for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.