Craps

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Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps formed from the ancient English game called Hazard. No one knows for sure the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s soldiers enjoyed Hazard during a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.

Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when banished by the British, the French moved south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which is gotten from the term for the losing throw of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi barges and all over the nation. A few think the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the current craps layout. He appended the Don’t Pass line so players can bet on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he created the spots for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.