Be clever, play brilliant, and become versed in craps the ideal way!

Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but current craps is approximately 100 years old. Modern craps come about from the ancient English game called Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the origin of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s knights bet on Hazard amid a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.

Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when banished by the English, the French moved south and discovered safety in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their best-loved game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s believed that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which was derived from the name of the losing toss of two in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi scows and across the country. Many think the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the modern craps layout. He put in place the Do not Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to lose. At another time, he developed the spaces for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.