Craps Tips

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately 100 years old. Current craps formed from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the ancestry of the game, however Hazard is said to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is presumed that Sir William’s knights played Hazard through a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was gotten from the citadel’s name.

Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when expelled by the English, the French headed south and settled in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was acquired from the term for the losing throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the nation. Most acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the current craps layout. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so gamblers can wager on the dice to not win. At another time, he developed the spots for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.