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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but current craps is only about a century old. Modern craps developed from the old Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the ancestry of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It is presumed that Sir William’s soldiers gambled on Hazard through a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the fortress’s name.
Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when driven away by the English, the French moved down south and found refuge in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which is gotten from the name of the bad luck toss of two in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and across the country. Many acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the current craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so players could wager on the dice to not win. At another time, he created the spots for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.