Dice and dice based games date back to the Middle Eastern Crusades, but current craps is just about 100 years old. Current craps evolved from the ancient English game titled Hazard. No one is certain of the ancestry of the game, but Hazard is said to have been designed by the Englishman, Sir William of Tyre, in the 1300’s. It’s believed that Sir William’s soldiers bet on Hazard during a blockade on the castle Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was developed from the fortress’s name.
Initial French settlers imported the game Hazard to Canada (the colony of Acadia, which is Nova Scotia today). In the 18th century, when exiled by the British, the French moved south and happen upon safety in southern Louisiana where they a while later became known as Cajuns. When they departed Nova Scotia, they took their favorite game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the dice game and developed it to be more statistically fair. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was attained from the name of the losing roll of 2 in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game moved to the Mississippi river boats and across the nation. Many see the die maker John H. Winn as the father of current craps. In the early 1900s, Winn assembled the current craps table design. He included the Don’t Pass line so players could bet on the shooter to not win. Later, he developed the spots for Place bets and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.
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