Be brilliant, play clever, and become versed in craps the proper way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps developed from the ancient English game called Hazard. Nobody knows for certain 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 believed that Sir William’s horsemen enjoyed Hazard during a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.
Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when expelled by the English, the French headed down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they after a while became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it fair mathematically. It is said that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which was derived from the name of the non-winning throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and throughout the country. Many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the modern craps setup. He added the Don’t Pass line so players can bet on the dice to not win. At another time, he developed the boxes for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.