Be smart, play smart, and master craps the proper way!

Games that use dice and the dice themselves date all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is approximately one hundred years old. Current craps developed from the 12th Century Anglo game called Hazard. No one knows for certain the origin of the game, but Hazard is said to have been made up by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It is presumed that Sir William’s soldiers bet on Hazard during a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the citadel’s name.

Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when banished by the British, the French moved down south and found sanctuary in the south of Louisiana where they after a while became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their best-loved game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which was derived from the name of the bad luck throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the nation. Many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In 1907, Winn designed the current craps setup. He added the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to not win. At another time, he designed the boxes for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.