Be cunning, play brilliant, and become versed in craps the right way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps formed from the 12th Century Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the birth of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It is theorized that Sir William’s soldiers wagered on Hazard during a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when banished by the English, the French relocated down south and found sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which was gotten from the name of the losing throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and across the country. A few consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In 1907, Winn built the modern craps setup. He added the Do not Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to not win. At another time, he invented the spaces for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.