Craps Tips

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Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Crusades, but current craps is just about a century old. Modern craps evolved from the ancient Anglo game referred to as Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the origin of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It is supposed that Sir William’s paladins bet on Hazard through a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the citadel’s name.

Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when exiled by the British, the French relocated down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which is derived from the term for the non-winning toss of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi scows and across the nation. Many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the current craps layout. He added the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he designed the spots for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.