Craps

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Dice and dice games date back to the Crusades, but current craps is approximately one hundred years old. Modern craps developed from the 12th Century English game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the ancestry of the game, however Hazard is said to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is believed that Sir William’s paladins played Hazard amid a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the fortification’s name.

Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when banished by the British, the French moved south and located sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it fair mathematically. It is said that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which was gotten from the term for the losing toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and across the nation. Most think the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the modern craps setup. He added the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to not win. Later, he designed the spots for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.