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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is approximately a century old. Current craps developed from the ancient English game called Hazard. No one knows for sure the birth of the game, however Hazard is said to have been discovered by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s theorized that Sir William’s soldiers 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 colonizers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when expelled by the English, the French moved down south and settled in southern Louisiana where they at a later time became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns broke down the game and made it mathematically fair. It is said that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which was derived from the term for the non-winning toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and all over the country. Most consider the dice maker John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In 1907, Winn designed the modern craps layout. He appended the Do not Pass line so players can wager on the dice to lose. Later, he invented the spots for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.