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 approximately a century old. Modern craps developed from the 12th Century Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody knows for sure the origin of the game, however Hazard is said to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is presumed that Sir William’s knights played Hazard through a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the citadel’s name.

Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when displaced by the British, the French moved down south and found sanctuary in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which was acquired from the name of the bad luck throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi barges and all over the nation. Most think the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In 1907, Winn created the current craps setup. He appended the Do not Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to not win. At another time, he designed the boxes for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.