Craps Strategy

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Dice and dice games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern day craps is just about one hundred years old. Modern craps evolved from the archaic English game called Hazard. No one knows for sure the origin of the game, but Hazard is said to have been created by the British man, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s rumored that Sir William’s soldiers played Hazard at the time of a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the fortress’s name.

Initial French colonists imported the game Hazard to Canada (the colony of Acadia, which is Nova Scotia today). In the 1700s, when displaced by the British, the French headed south and found sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they departed Nova Scotia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is stated that the Cajuns amended the name of the game to craps, which was developed from the name of the non-winning roll of 2 in the dice game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and throughout the country. Many think the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the current craps table design. He included the Do not Pass line so players could bet on the dice to not win. Later, he created the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.