Craps

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is just about 100 years old. Modern craps developed from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the origin of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is theorized that Sir William’s paladins gambled on Hazard amid a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was gotten from the fortification’s name.

Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when displaced by the English, the French moved south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which is derived from the name of the bad luck throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and all over the nation. A good many think the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In 1907, Winn developed the modern craps setup. He appended the Don’t Pass line so players could wager on the dice to lose. At another time, he designed the spaces for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.