Craps

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps developed from the 12th Century Anglo game called Hazard. No one knows for sure the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It is believed that Sir William’s horsemen played Hazard amid a blockade on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was gotten from the fortress’s name.

Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when displaced by the English, the French headed down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which is acquired from the name of the losing toss of two in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi riverboats and across the country. Most acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the current craps setup. He put in place the Do not Pass line so players can wager on the dice to not win. Later, he developed the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.