Craps TipsBeginner Craps Tips

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately 100 years old. Modern craps come about from the old English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the origin of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is theorized that Sir William’s horsemen enjoyed Hazard during a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was gotten from the fortification’s name.

Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when banished by the English, the French headed south and located safety in southern Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which was acquired from the name of the bad luck throw of two in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi barges and throughout the country. Most think the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn developed the current craps setup. He added the Do not Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to not win. Later, he created the boxes for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.