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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Current craps come about from the old English game referred to as Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is said to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is presumed that Sir William’s horsemen played Hazard during a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the castle’s name.
Early French colonists brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when driven away by the British, the French headed south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it more mathematically fair. It’s believed that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which was acquired from the name of the non-winning throw of 2 in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and across the country. Most acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the current craps layout. He created the Do not Pass line so players can bet on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he established the spaces for Place wagers and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.