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Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is only about a century old. Modern craps evolved from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. Nobody knows for sure the birth of the game, but Hazard is said to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It is theorized that Sir William’s knights played Hazard amid a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.
Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when expelled by the English, the French relocated south and located safety in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which is derived from the name of the bad luck toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi barges and across the country. A great many consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the modern craps layout. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so players can bet on the dice to not win. At another time, he invented the spaces for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.