Craps Information

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is only about 100 years old. Current craps developed from the ancient English game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the birth of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It’s believed that Sir William’s soldiers enjoyed Hazard through a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.

Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when driven away by the British, the French relocated south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their best-loved game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it fair mathematically. It is said that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which was derived from the name of the non-winning throw of two in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the country. A few acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the modern craps setup. He put in place the Do not Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to lose. At another time, he established the boxes for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.