Craps

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but current craps is only about one hundred years old. Modern craps come about from the 12th Century Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It’s believed that Sir William’s soldiers bet on Hazard during a blockade on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the castle’s name.

Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when exiled by the English, the French headed south and located safety in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which was derived from the name of the bad luck throw of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and across the country. A good many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In 1907, Winn built the current craps layout. He created the Do not Pass line so gamblers can wager on the dice to lose. Later, he designed the spaces for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.