Dice and dice based games go back to the Crusades, but modern day craps is only about one hundred years old. Modern day craps evolved from the archaic British game known as Hazard. No one knows for sure the origin of the game, but Hazard is believed to have been invented by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the 1300’s. It’s believed that Sir William’s knights played Hazard during a siege on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was derived from the citadel’s name.

Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Canada (the area of Acadia, which is Nova Scotia today). In the 18th century, when exiled by the British, the French moved south and located sanctuary in southern Louisiana where they after a while became known as Cajuns. When they were driven out of Acadia, they brought their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns modernized the dice game and made it more statistically fair. It is stated that the Cajuns amended the name of the game to craps, which was developed from the name of the losing toss of two in the game of Hazard, called "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game extended to the Mississippi riverboats and throughout the union. Many think the die maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn created the current craps layout. He included the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to not win. Later, he developed the areas for Place bets and added the Big six, Big 8, and Hardways.