Dice and dice games date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is just about one hundred years old. Modern craps developed from the ancient British game known as Hazard. No one is certain of the ancestry of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been made up by the British man, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s soldiers gambled on Hazard at the time of a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was developed from the fortification’s name.
Initial French colonizers brought the dice game Hazard to French North America (the area of Acadia, which is now Nova Scotia). In the 1700s, when driven away by the English, the French relocated south and located sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and developed it to be more statistically honest. It is said that the Cajuns altered the name to craps, which was developed from the name of the non-winning throw of two in the game of Hazard, called "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi riverboats and around the country. Many think the die maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern day craps. In the early 1900s, Winn developed the current craps layout. He added the Do not Pass line so individuals could wager on the dice to not win. Later, he created the areas for Place bets and added the Big six, Big 8, and Hardways.
