Craps

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Dice and dice games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is only about a century old. Modern craps evolved from the old English game called Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the beginnings of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s soldiers gambled on Hazard through a blockade on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the fortress’s name.

Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when driven away by the English, the French moved south and located safety in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which was derived from the term for the bad luck throw of two in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the nation. Many think the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In 1907, Winn built the current craps layout. He appended the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he created the spots for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.