Craps Strategies

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is only about 100 years old. Modern craps formed from the old English game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the origin of the game, however Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s soldiers bet on Hazard through a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.

Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Canada. In the 18th century, when expelled by the English, the French relocated south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was acquired from the name of the bad luck toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi barges and all over the nation. A few acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn developed the modern craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so players could wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he established the boxes for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.