Dice and dice games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern day craps is just about 100 years old. Modern day craps developed from the ancient British game known as Hazard. No one knows for sure the origin of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been made up by the British man, Sir William of Tyre, in the 1300’s. It is rumored that Sir William’s knights played Hazard at the time of a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was developed from the fortification’s name.
Initial French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Canada (the colony of Acadia, which is now Nova Scotia). In the 1700s, when driven away by the English, the French headed south and happen upon sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they after a while became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it more statistically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns changed the name of the game to craps, which was developed from the name of the non-winning throw of two in the dice game of Hazard, called "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi riverboats and throughout the union. Many think the die maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the current craps layout. He put in place the Do not Pass line so gamblers could wager on the shooter to not win. Later, he developed the boxes for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.