Craps Strategies

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Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes back to the Crusades, but modern craps is only about 100 years old. Modern craps come about from the old Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for certain the birth of the game, but Hazard is said to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s horsemen played Hazard during a siege on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the fortress’s name.

Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when expelled by the English, the French relocated south and settled in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which is derived from the name of the losing toss of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and throughout the country. A good many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn designed the modern craps setup. He put in place the Do not Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to lose. At another time, he developed the spaces for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.