Craps Information

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is approximately one hundred years old. Current craps formed from the 12th Century English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for sure the origin of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s knights played Hazard amid a blockade on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the castle’s name.

Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when displaced by the English, the French headed down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which is derived from the name of the bad luck throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi riverboats and throughout the nation. Most consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the current craps setup. He added the Do not Pass line so players can bet on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he created the spaces for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.