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Dice and dice games date all the way back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is approximately 100 years old. Current craps developed from the ancient Anglo game called Hazard. No one knows for sure the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is said to have been created by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, around the 12th century. It’s believed that Sir William’s knights wagered on Hazard amid a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the citadel’s name.
Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when displaced by the English, the French moved down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s said that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which was acquired from the term for the losing toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and throughout the country. A good many consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In 1907, Winn designed the current craps setup. He appended the Don’t Pass line so players could wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he created the spots for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.