Craps Tips

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Dice and dice games goes back to the Crusades, but current craps is just about 100 years old. Current craps formed from the 12th Century Anglo game called Hazard. No one knows for sure the ancestry of the game, but Hazard is said to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It is supposed that Sir William’s knights enjoyed Hazard amid a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.

Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when exiled by the English, the French moved down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which was gotten from the term for the bad luck toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi barges and throughout the nation. Many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the current craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so players can bet on the dice to not win. At another time, he designed the spaces for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.