Craps

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Dice and dice games goes back to the Crusades, but current craps is just about 100 years old. Current craps developed from the old Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for certain the origin of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s paladins gambled on Hazard amid a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.

Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when banished by the British, the French relocated down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was derived from the name of the bad luck toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi river boats and across the nation. Most consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn developed the current craps setup. He appended the Do not Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he developed the spots for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.