Craps

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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 a century old. Current craps come about from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the birth of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It is theorized that Sir William’s knights bet on Hazard during a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the citadel’s name.

Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when expelled by the English, the French relocated down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it fair mathematically. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which is derived from the name of the losing toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and throughout the country. Many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In 1907, Winn developed the current craps layout. He created the Do not Pass line so players can bet on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he invented the spaces for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.