Craps Tips

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately 100 years old. Modern craps come about from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for certain the origin of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is theorized that Sir William’s knights bet on Hazard through a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.

Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when expelled by the English, the French relocated south and found refuge in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which was acquired from the name of the non-winning toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the country. A great many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the current craps layout. He created the Do not Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to not win. At another time, he created the boxes for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.