Craps Tips

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Dice and dice games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is just about a century old. Modern craps formed from the old Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for sure the birth of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It’s believed that Sir William’s horsemen gambled on Hazard through a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortress’s name.

Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when displaced by the English, the French headed down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their best-loved game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which was derived from the name of the non-winning throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and across the country. Many think the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In 1907, Winn designed the modern craps layout. He appended the Do not Pass line so players can wager on the dice to not win. At another time, he invented the boxes for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.