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Dice and dice games goes back to the Crusades, but modern craps is only about a century old. Modern craps developed from the ancient English game called Hazard. Nobody knows for certain the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is said to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the 12th century. It’s supposed that Sir William’s knights played Hazard through a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was gotten from the castle’s name.
Early French colonizers brought the game Hazard to Canada. In the 1700s, when expelled by the English, the French relocated down south and found safety 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, along. The Cajuns simplified the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the title to craps, which was derived from the term for the losing toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi scows and throughout the nation. Many think the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn developed the modern craps setup. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so gamblers can wager on the dice to not win. At another time, he established the boxes for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.