Craps Information

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps evolved from the old Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the birth of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It is presumed that Sir William’s horsemen enjoyed Hazard amid a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the citadel’s name.

Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when displaced by the British, the French headed down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which is derived from the term for the non-winning toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the country. Many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In 1907, Winn designed the current craps setup. He added the Don’t Pass line so players could wager on the dice to lose. Later, he developed the boxes for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.