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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is only about one hundred years old. Modern craps evolved from the ancient English game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the birth of the game, but Hazard is said to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is believed that Sir William’s paladins gambled on Hazard amid a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.
Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 1700s, when exiled by the English, the French moved down south and located refuge in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s believed that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which was gotten from the term for the non-winning throw of two in the game of Hazard, known as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi river boats and across the country. Most think the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In 1907, Winn created the modern craps setup. He appended the Do not Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to not win. Afterwords, he established the spaces for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.