Craps Strategy

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Dice and dice games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is just about one hundred years old. Current craps flourished from the very old English game called Hazard. No one knows for sure the birth of the game, but Hazard is considered to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s soldiers enjoyed Hazard for the duration of a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortress’s name.

Early French colonists brought the dice game Hazard to Canada (the area of Acadia, which is now Nova Scotia). In the 1700s, when exiled by the English, the French moved south and happen upon sanctuary in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the dice game and made it more statistically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns altered the name of the game to craps, which was developed from the term for the losing roll of 2 in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and across the union. Many see the die maker John H. Winn as the father of modern day craps. In 1907, Winn created the current craps table design. He added the Don’t Pass line so folks could wager on the dice to not win. Later, he developed the spots for Place wagers and added the Big six, Big eight, and Hardways.