Craps

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Current craps evolved from the old Anglo game referred to as Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the origin of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is presumed that Sir William’s horsemen bet on Hazard through a blockade on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the castle’s name.

Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when banished by the English, the French moved south and found sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which was acquired from the term for the bad luck throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi scows and all over the country. A great many acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In 1907, Winn created the current craps layout. He added the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he developed the spaces for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.