Craps Tips

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Crusades, but current craps is approximately 100 years old. Current craps evolved from the 12th Century English game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for sure the birth of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s paladins bet on Hazard during a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the castle’s name.

Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when exiled by the English, the French headed south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their best-loved game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which was acquired from the name of the non-winning throw of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi riverboats and throughout the nation. Most consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn developed the current craps setup. He added the Don’t Pass line so players could bet on the dice to not win. Later, he established the spaces for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.