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Become Versed in Craps – Tricks and Schemes: The Background of Craps
Be brilliant, play clever, and learn how to play craps the right way!
Dice and dice games goes back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps come about from the old Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is said to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the twelfth century. It is supposed that Sir William’s soldiers bet on Hazard through a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the citadel’s name.
Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when displaced by the English, the French moved south and found refuge in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s said that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which was acquired from the name of the non-winning toss of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and across the country. A good many acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the modern craps setup. He appended the Don’t Pass line so players can bet on the dice to lose. Later, he established the spots for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.