Be a Master of Craps – Tips and Plans: The Past of Craps
Be smart, play brilliant, and discover how to play craps the right way!
Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is only about a century old. Current craps formed from the 12th Century Anglo game called Hazard. No one knows for certain the origin of the game, although Hazard is said to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s knights bet on Hazard amid a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the castle’s name.
Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when banished by the English, the French headed south and found refuge in southern Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their best-loved game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which was derived from the term for the losing throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi river boats and across the country. Many acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In 1907, Winn created the modern craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to lose. At another time, he invented the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
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