Craps

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but current craps is only about 100 years old. Modern craps evolved from the 12th Century Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the ancestry of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It is believed that Sir William’s horsemen played Hazard through a blockade on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the castle’s name.

Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when driven away by the British, the French headed south and settled in southern Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which was acquired from the name of the non-winning toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi barges and all over the country. A few think the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In 1907, Winn built the modern craps setup. He appended the Don’t Pass line so gamblers can wager on the dice to lose. At another time, he invented the boxes for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.