Craps Tips

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Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Crusades, but current craps is only about one hundred years old. Modern craps developed from the ancient Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for certain the birth of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It is presumed that Sir William’s soldiers bet on Hazard through a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the castle’s name.

Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when banished by the English, the French headed south and located sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which was derived from the term for the bad luck toss of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi scows and across the nation. A good many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the modern craps setup. He created the Do not Pass line so players can wager on the dice to lose. At another time, he established the spaces for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.