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Games that use dice and the dice themselves date all the way back to the Crusades, but current craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps formed from the 12th Century Anglo game referred to as Hazard. No one knows for certain the birth of the game, although Hazard is believed to have been made up by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It’s believed that Sir William’s paladins enjoyed Hazard through a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was derived from the fortification’s name.

Early French settlers imported the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 18th century, when driven away by the British, the French moved south and settled in southern Louisiana where they a while later became Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns modernized the game and made it fair mathematically. It’s said that the Cajuns adjusted the name to craps, which is gotten from the name of the bad luck throw of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi riverboats and throughout the nation. Most acknowledge the dice builder John H. Winn as the creator of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the current craps setup. He put in place the Don’t Pass line so players can bet on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he created the spaces for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.

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