Be cunning, play cunning, and become versed in craps the correct way!

Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is only about a century old. Current craps evolved from the old Anglo game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for sure the origin of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s soldiers wagered on Hazard through a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the fortification’s name.

Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when displaced by the English, the French moved south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which is gotten from the term for the bad luck throw of two in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi riverboats and across the country. Most think the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In 1907, Winn designed the modern craps setup. He added the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to lose. At another time, he invented the spaces for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.