Craps Tips

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Dice and dice games date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Current craps developed from the old English game called Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the birth of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s horsemen gambled on Hazard through a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.

Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when exiled by the British, the French moved south and located safety in southern Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it fair mathematically. It is said that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was derived from the name of the non-winning throw of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and across the country. A great many think the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the modern craps layout. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so players can wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he established the boxes for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.