[ English ]

Be clever, play brilliant, and pickup craps the right way!

Dice and dice games goes back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Current craps formed from the 12th Century English game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for sure the ancestry of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It is believed that Sir William’s knights bet on Hazard during a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.

Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when expelled by the British, the French relocated south and discovered sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which is acquired from the term for the non-winning toss of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi riverboats and throughout the country. A few think the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the current craps layout. He added the Don’t Pass line so players can bet on the dice to lose. Later, he created the spaces for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.