Craps

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

Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Crusades, but current craps is only about 100 years old. Modern craps come about from the 12th Century English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It is presumed that Sir William’s horsemen played Hazard during a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the fortress’s name.

Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when displaced by the British, the French relocated down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which is derived from the name of the bad luck toss of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi barges and all over the nation. A few think the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In 1907, Winn built the current craps setup. He appended the Do not Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to not win. Later, he developed the spots for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.