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 current craps is approximately one hundred years old. Modern craps developed from the 12th Century English game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is said to have been discovered by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s paladins bet on Hazard during a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the castle’s name.

Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when expelled by the English, the French headed south and settled in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was derived from the term for the non-winning throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi barges and across the nation. A few acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the current craps layout. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so players could wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he designed the spaces for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.