Craps Strategies

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Dice and dice games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is only about 100 years old. Modern day craps flourished from the ancient English game called Hazard. No one is certain of the birth of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the 1300’s. It’s believed that Sir William’s soldiers played Hazard during a blockade on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was developed from the castle’s name.

Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to French North America (the colony of Acadia, which is now Nova Scotia). In the 1700s, when displaced by the English, the French relocated south and discovered sanctuary in the south of Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they left Nova Scotia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the dice game and developed it to be more statistically attractive. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the name of the game to craps, which was developed from the name of the non-winning roll of two in the dice game of Hazard, called "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi riverboats and throughout the union. Many see the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern day craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the modern craps layout. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could bet on the shooter to lose. Later, he developed the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.