Craps TipsBeginner Craps Tips

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Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is only about 100 years old. Modern craps evolved from the ancient Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the ancestry of the game, however Hazard is said to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It’s supposed that Sir William’s horsemen played Hazard during a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.

Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when banished by the British, the French headed south and settled in southern Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which is derived from the name of the non-winning throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi barges and all over the nation. A great many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In 1907, Winn built the current craps setup. He appended the Do not Pass line so players could wager on the dice to lose. At another time, he developed the spaces for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.