[ English ]

Be smart, play cunning, and pickup craps the correct way!

Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is just about a century old. Modern craps formed from the old English game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for sure the origin of the game, however Hazard is said to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s horsemen played Hazard during a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.

Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when driven away by the English, the French relocated down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which was derived from the term for the bad luck toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi scows and throughout the country. Many acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the current craps setup. He added the Do not Pass line so players can wager on the dice to not win. Later, he established the spots for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.