Craps Strategies

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is only about a century old. Current craps developed from the 12th Century Anglo game referred to as Hazard. Nobody absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, however Hazard is said to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s knights bet on Hazard through a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the fortification’s name.

Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when driven away by the English, the French relocated down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it fair mathematically. It is said that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which is derived from the name of the non-winning throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi river boats and across the nation. A great many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the current craps setup. He created the Do not Pass line so players can wager on the dice to lose. Later, he designed the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.