Craps TipsBeginner Craps Tips

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is just about a century old. Modern craps come about from the 12th Century Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is said to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s soldiers bet on Hazard amid a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.

Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when displaced by the English, the French moved south and found refuge in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which is gotten from the term for the bad luck throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and across the country. A good many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn developed the current craps setup. He put in place the Do not Pass line so players can bet on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he designed the spots for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.