Craps Tips

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Dice and dice games date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is just about 100 years old. Modern craps come about from the ancient Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for sure the origin of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s paladins enjoyed Hazard through a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.

Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when exiled by the British, the French moved down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which is derived from the term for the non-winning toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and all over the nation. A great many think the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the current craps setup. He added the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to not win. At another time, he established the spaces for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.