Craps Strategies

Be cunning, play cunning, and become versed in craps the proper way!

Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is approximately one hundred years old. Modern craps come about from the old Anglo game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the origin of the game, although Hazard is said to have been made up by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It is presumed that Sir William’s knights gambled on Hazard through a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the citadel’s name.

Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when banished by the English, the French headed down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns altered the title to craps, which is derived from the name of the non-winning toss of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and across the country. A great many think the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In 1907, Winn built the modern craps layout. He appended the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to lose. Later, he established the boxes for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.