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 current craps is only about 100 years old. Current craps developed from the old Anglo game referred to as Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the origin of the game, although Hazard is said to have been made up by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s paladins gambled on Hazard during a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the citadel’s name.

Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when displaced by the English, the French relocated south and settled in southern Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which is acquired from the name of the bad luck throw of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi scows and throughout the country. A great many acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the modern craps layout. He created the Do not Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he designed the spots for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.