Craps Strategies

Be smart, play clever, and become versed in craps the correct way!

Dice and dice games goes back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is approximately one hundred years old. Current craps developed from the 12th Century Anglo game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the ancestry of the game, although Hazard is said to have been invented by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It’s supposed that Sir William’s paladins bet on Hazard amid a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the castle’s name.

Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when expelled by the English, the French moved south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it fair mathematically. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was derived from the term for the losing throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the country. A few think the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the current craps setup. He created the Do not Pass line so gamblers can wager on the dice to lose. Later, he created the spaces for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.