Dice and dice based games go back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern day craps is only about 100 years old. Modern day craps flourished from the very old English game named Hazard. No one is certain of the ancestry of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been developed by the British man, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s alleged that Sir William’s soldiers enjoyed Hazard for the duration of a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the fortress’s name.
Initial French colonists imported the dice game Hazard to French North America (the colony of Acadia, which is now Nova Scotia). In the 18th century, when exiled by the British, the French headed south and happen upon sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they left Nova Scotia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the game and developed it to be more mathematically attractive. It is believed that the Cajuns altered the name of the game to craps, which was derived from the term for the losing toss of 2 in the dice game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the nation. Many think the die maker John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the modern craps table design. He included the Don’t Pass line so players could bet on the shooter to not win. Later, he developed the areas for Place wagers and added the Big six, Big eight, and Hardways.