May 172025
Be clever, play smart, and discover how to play craps the right way!
Dice and dice games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is only about 100 years old. Modern craps evolved from the old Anglo game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the ancestry of the game, but Hazard is said to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s paladins bet on Hazard through a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the citadel’s name.
Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when driven away by the English, the French headed south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which was acquired from the term for the bad luck toss of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and across the country. Most think the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the modern craps layout. He added the Don’t Pass line so players can bet on the dice to lose. Later, he developed the spots for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
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