Craps Information

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Crusades, but modern craps is only about a century old. Modern craps come about from the old English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the birth of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s paladins played Hazard through a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the fortress’s name.

Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when banished by the British, the French relocated down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was acquired from the term for the losing throw of two in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi barges and across the country. A good many think the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the modern craps setup. He put in place the Do not Pass line so players can bet on the dice to lose. At another time, he invented the spaces for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.