Discover how to Play Craps – Tips and Schemes: the History of Craps

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Dice and dice based games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern day craps is just about one hundred years old. Modern craps developed from the very old British game called Hazard. No one knows for sure the birth of the game, but Hazard is considered to have been made up by the British man, Sir William of Tyre, in the 1300’s. It’s presumed that Sir William’s soldiers gambled on Hazard during a blockade on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the fortress’s name.

Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to French North America (the colony of Acadia, which is Nova Scotia today). In the 18th century, when driven away by the English, the French headed south and found safety in the south of Louisiana where they after a while became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Nova Scotia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and developed it to be more statistically honest. It is stated that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which was developed from the name of the losing throw of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi river boats and throughout the union. Many see the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the modern craps table design. He put in place the Do not Pass line so folks could wager on the dice to not win. Later, he developed the areas for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.

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