Craps Information

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Dice and dice games goes back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately 100 years old. Current craps developed from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for sure the birth of the game, but Hazard is said to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It is supposed that Sir William’s paladins played Hazard amid a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.

Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when banished by the English, the French moved south and located refuge in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it fair mathematically. It is believed that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which is acquired from the name of the losing toss of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and across the country. Many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the modern craps setup. He created the Do not Pass line so players could wager on the dice to lose. At another time, he established the spaces for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.