Dice and dice games date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is just about one hundred years old. Modern day craps developed from the ancient British game known as Hazard. No one knows for sure the ancestry of the game, but Hazard is considered to have been developed by the British man, Sir William of Tyre, in the 1300’s. It is believed that Sir William’s soldiers enjoyed Hazard at the time of a siege on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was developed from the citadel’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Canada (the colony of Acadia, which is now Nova Scotia). In the 1700s, when exiled by the English, the French headed south and found sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they fled Nova Scotia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the dice game and made it more statistically attractive. It’s believed that the Cajuns amended the name to craps, which was derived from the name of the non-winning roll of two in the game of Hazard, called "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi riverboats and across the territory. Many see the die maker John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the modern craps table design. He added the Do not Pass line so folks could bet on the dice to not win. Later, he created the spaces for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big eight, and Hardways.