Dice and dice based games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is only about 100 years old. Current craps flourished from the very old British game called 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 1300’s. It’s believed that Sir William’s soldiers bet on Hazard for the duration of a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.
Initial French colonizers imported the dice game Hazard to Canada (the colony of Acadia, which is now Nova Scotia). In the 18th century, when exiled by the British, the French relocated south and discovered safety in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became Cajuns. When they departed Acadia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the game and developed it to be more mathematically attractive. It’s believed that the Cajuns changed the name of the game to craps, which was derived from the name of the non-winning throw of two in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi riverboats and all over the country. Many see the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern day craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the modern craps table design. He added the Do not Pass line so gamblers could bet on the dice to not win. Later, he created the areas for Place wagers and added the Big six, Big eight, and Hardways.
