Craps Information

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is just about one hundred years old. Modern craps come about from the 12th Century English game called Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the origin of the game, however Hazard is said to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s soldiers enjoyed Hazard through a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the citadel’s name.

Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when banished by the British, the French moved south and discovered safety in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which was derived from the name of the losing throw of two in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and across the country. A great many think the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the modern craps setup. He put in place the Do not Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he designed the spots for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.