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Dice and dice games date back to the Crusades, but current craps is just about 100 years old. Current craps developed from the 12th Century English game called Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the birth of the game, however Hazard is said to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is presumed that Sir William’s knights bet on Hazard during a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was gotten from the fortress’s name.
Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when driven away by the English, the French headed south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it fair mathematically. It is said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which is gotten from the name of the losing throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi scows and throughout the country. Many think the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In 1907, Winn built the current craps setup. He added the Do not Pass line so players could bet on the dice to lose. At another time, he invented the boxes for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.