Craps Tips

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

Be brilliant, play brilliant, and learn how to play craps the right way!

Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is approximately a century old. Current craps developed from the 12th Century English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for sure the origin of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s knights enjoyed Hazard during a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was gotten from the castle’s name.

Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when driven away by the British, the French relocated down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s believed that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which is acquired from the name of the non-winning toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and throughout the country. Most acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the modern craps layout. He added the Don’t Pass line so players can bet on the dice to lose. Later, he developed the boxes for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.