Craps

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

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

Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Current craps developed from the ancient English game called Hazard. No one knows for certain the ancestry of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It is believed that Sir William’s soldiers enjoyed Hazard amid a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.

Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when exiled by the English, the French relocated down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which was derived from the term for the losing toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and across the country. Many think the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In 1907, Winn developed the current craps layout. He added the Don’t Pass line so players could wager on the dice to lose. At another time, he created the spaces for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.