Craps

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Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Crusades, but current craps is only about a century old. Modern craps evolved from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for sure the ancestry of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It is supposed that Sir William’s paladins bet on Hazard through a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the castle’s name.

Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when expelled by the British, the French moved south and discovered sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which was derived from the term for the non-winning throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi barges and throughout the nation. A good many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the current craps layout. He created the Do not Pass line so players could wager on the dice to not win. Later, he established the spaces for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.