Craps Tips

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately one hundred years old. Modern craps evolved from the 12th Century Anglo game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the origin of the game, but Hazard is said to have been discovered by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It is theorized that Sir William’s knights enjoyed Hazard during a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was gotten from the castle’s name.

Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when displaced by the English, the French relocated down south and discovered safety in southern Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which was acquired from the term for the bad luck throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi riverboats and throughout the nation. A good many acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the current craps setup. He appended the Do not Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to not win. At another time, he invented the spaces for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.