Craps Information

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is approximately one hundred years old. Current craps developed from the ancient English game called Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the origin of the game, but Hazard is said to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s soldiers enjoyed Hazard amid a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.

Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when expelled by the British, the French headed south and discovered refuge in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it fair mathematically. It is said that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was acquired from the name of the losing toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi scows and throughout the country. Most think the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In 1907, Winn built the modern craps layout. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so players can wager on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he established the spots for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.