Craps Tips

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately one hundred years old. Current craps evolved from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the ancestry of the game, although Hazard is said to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It is supposed that Sir William’s paladins wagered on Hazard through a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the castle’s name.

Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when displaced by the English, the French moved south and settled in southern Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their best-loved game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which is acquired from the name of the non-winning toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi riverboats and across the country. A great many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In 1907, Winn developed the current craps setup. He added the Do not Pass line so gamblers can wager on the dice to lose. At another time, he established the boxes for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.