Craps Strategies

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Crusades, but current craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps developed from the old English game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for sure the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It is supposed that Sir William’s horsemen played Hazard during a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.

Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when banished by the British, the French headed south and discovered sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s believed that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which is gotten from the term for the non-winning throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi river boats and throughout the country. A few think the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In 1907, Winn developed the modern craps setup. He added the Do not Pass line so players can bet on the dice to not win. Later, he developed the boxes for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.