Become Versed in Craps – Tips and Strategies: The Background of Craps


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Be brilliant, play smart, and learn how to play craps the correct way!

Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is just about one hundred years old. Current craps formed from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is said to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It is theorized that Sir William’s soldiers bet on Hazard amid a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the castle’s name.

Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when displaced by the British, the French moved down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was acquired from the term for the bad luck throw of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi scows and across the country. Most consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the modern craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to not win. Later, he invented the spots for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.

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