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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is only about one hundred years old. Current craps evolved from the 12th Century English game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the birth of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s soldiers played Hazard amid a blockade on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the castle’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when exiled by the British, the French relocated down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which is acquired from the term for the bad luck throw of two in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and all over the nation. A good many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In 1907, Winn designed the modern craps setup. He added the Do not Pass line so players could wager on the dice to lose. Later, he established the spots for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
This entry was posted on January 18, 2026, 8:25 am and is filed under Craps. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.