Craps

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Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Crusades, but current craps is just about a century old. Current craps formed from the old Anglo game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for sure the ancestry of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It is presumed that Sir William’s paladins played Hazard during a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortress’s name.

Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when displaced by the English, the French moved south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it fair mathematically. It is said that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which is acquired from the name of the losing toss of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the country. Many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the modern craps layout. He put in place the Do not Pass line so players can bet on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he developed the spots for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.