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Be smart, play cunning, and master craps the correct way!

Games that use dice and the dice themselves date all the way back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately one hundred years old. Current craps formed from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for sure the origin of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It is supposed that Sir William’s paladins enjoyed Hazard amid a blockade on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the fortress’s name.

Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when banished by the British, the French relocated south and located refuge in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it fair mathematically. It is believed that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which is derived from the name of the non-winning toss of two in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi barges and all over the country. Most think the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn developed the modern craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he invented the boxes for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.

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