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Dice and dice games goes all the way back to the Crusades, but current craps is only about a century old. Current craps developed from the old English game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the birth of the game, although Hazard is said to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the twelfth century. It is theorized that Sir William’s horsemen played Hazard amid a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the fortress’s name.
Early French colonists imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when displaced by the British, the French headed down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it more mathematically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which is derived from the term for the losing toss of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi scows and all over the country. A few consider the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the modern craps layout. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so gamblers can wager on the dice to lose. Later, he invented the boxes for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.