[ English ]

Be smart, play cunning, and become versed in craps the correct way!

Games that use dice and the dice themselves date all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is just about a century old. Modern craps evolved from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody knows for sure the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is said to have been made up by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s horsemen gambled on Hazard during a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the fortress’s name.

Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when driven away by the British, the French moved down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s believed that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which was gotten from the term for the bad luck throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi scows and all over the country. A great many think the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In 1907, Winn designed the current craps setup. He added the Do not Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he invented the spots for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.