Craps

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is approximately one hundred years old. Current craps developed from the 12th Century Anglo game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the ancestry of the game, but Hazard is said to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It is theorized that Sir William’s horsemen wagered on Hazard amid a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the castle’s name.

Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when banished by the British, the French moved down south and found sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which was gotten from the name of the bad luck throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi riverboats and across the nation. Many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In 1907, Winn designed the modern craps setup. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to lose. Later, he established the spaces for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.