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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps formed from the 12th Century English game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for sure the birth of the game, however 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 bet on Hazard amid a blockade on the citadel Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the castle’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when displaced by the British, the French relocated down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they at a later time became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which is gotten from the name of the non-winning toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the country. A good many think the dice builder John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In 1907, Winn assembled the modern craps setup. He added the Do not Pass line so players can wager on the dice to lose. At another time, he invented the spots for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.