Craps TipsBeginner Craps Tips

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Dice and dice games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is just about a century old. Modern craps evolved from the 12th Century Anglo game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the ancestry of the game, but Hazard is said to have been discovered by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s soldiers bet on Hazard during a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.

Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when displaced by the British, the French moved south and located refuge in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their best-loved game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which is acquired from the term for the losing throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi river boats and all over the nation. A good many acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the current craps layout. He created the Don’t Pass line so players could wager on the dice to not win. At another time, he invented the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.