Craps TipsBeginner Craps Tips

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Crusades, but current craps is just about a century old. Current craps come about from the 12th Century Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for certain the ancestry of the game, but Hazard is said to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It is supposed that Sir William’s paladins enjoyed Hazard through a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.

Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when displaced by the English, the French moved south and settled in southern Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which is gotten from the name of the bad luck toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and throughout the country. Most acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the current craps setup. He added the Don’t Pass line so players could wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he established the boxes for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.