Craps

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date all the way back to the Crusades, but current craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps developed from the old English game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for sure the beginnings of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is believed that Sir William’s knights wagered on Hazard through a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortress’s name.

Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when driven away by the British, the French moved south and settled in southern Louisiana where they after a while became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which is acquired from the name of the losing throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi riverboats and throughout the nation. A few consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the modern craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to lose. Later, he invented the spaces for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.