Craps Tips

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is approximately 100 years old. Current craps evolved from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the ancestry of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It is theorized that Sir William’s horsemen played Hazard during a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.

Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when exiled by the English, the French moved down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they after a while became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their best-loved game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which was derived from the term for the bad luck toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi river boats and across the country. Most think the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the modern craps layout. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to not win. Later, he established the boxes for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.