Craps

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Crusades, but modern craps is just about 100 years old. Current craps formed from the ancient English game called Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is said to have been made up by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It’s believed that Sir William’s knights wagered on Hazard through a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was gotten from the castle’s name.

Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when banished by the British, the French relocated down south and located safety in the south of 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 more mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which was gotten from the term for the bad luck toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi scows and throughout the country. A few think the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the modern craps layout. He created the Don’t Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he invented the spaces for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.