Craps Information

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Dice and dice games go back to the Crusades, but modern day craps is only about one hundred years old. Modern craps flourished from the ancient English game known as Hazard. No one knows for sure the birth of the game, but Hazard is said to have been made up by the British man, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s knights wagered on Hazard during a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was developed from the citadel’s name.

Initial French colonizers brought the dice game Hazard to Canada (the colony of Acadia, which is Nova Scotia today). In the 1700s, when expelled by the English, the French headed south and happen upon refuge in the south of Louisiana where they after a while became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the dice game and developed it to be more statistically fair. It is said that the Cajuns amended the name of the game to craps, which was developed from the term for the losing roll of two in the dice game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and throughout the nation. Many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern day craps. In 1907, Winn created the modern craps layout. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so folks could wager on the shooter to lose. Later, he developed the areas for Place bets and added the Big six, Big 8, and Hardways.