Craps Tips

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

Dice and dice based games date back to the Crusades, but modern day craps is just about one hundred years old. Modern craps developed from the archaic British 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 1300’s. It’s theorized that Sir William’s knights gambled on Hazard for the duration of a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.

Initial French colonists imported the game Hazard to Canada (the area of Acadia, which is now Nova Scotia). In the 18th century, when expelled by the British, the French moved south and found refuge in the south of Louisiana where they after a while became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the dice game and made it more statistically fair. It is said that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was developed from the name of the losing toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and around the territory. Many think the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern day craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the current craps layout. He included the Do not Pass line so individuals could bet on the shooter to not win. Later, he developed the boxes for Place bets and added the Big six, Big 8, and Hardways.