Legal Definitions - hazarder

A hazarder is a historical term referring to an individual who participated as a player in a game of dice that was considered illegal or unlawful under the laws of the time.

Here are some examples to illustrate this term:

• Imagine a scene in 14th-century England where local ordinances strictly prohibited gambling. If a man named Thomas was discovered by the town watch in the back room of an inn, actively rolling dice in a game of "hazard" (a popular but often outlawed dice game of the era), he would be considered a hazarder. This is because he was a player in a game of dice that was explicitly unlawful.

• Consider 18th-century London, where various parliamentary acts sought to suppress public gambling. If Mr. Finch regularly frequented a clandestine gambling den, participating in high-stakes dice games that were strictly forbidden by law, he would be identified as a hazarder. His role as a player in these illicit dice games directly fits the definition of the term.