According to Richard Epstein, craps is descended from an earlier game known as Hazard, that dates to the Middle Ages. The formal rules for Hazard were established by Montmort early in the 1700s. The origin of the name craps is shrouded in doubt, but it may have come from the English crabs, or from the French Crapeaud (for toad)

The shooter, or anyone wishing to bet that the shooter will win, places his bet "on the line" (in the area marked "Does Pass," "Line," or "Win" on various layouts) Anyone betting against the shooter places his bet in the area marked "Don't Pass." Anyone wishing to bet on a special contingency, such as that craps (2, 3, or 12) will or will not be thrown on the next roll, places his bet in the appropriate space on the layout; such bets are called proposition bets. The house maintains a mathematical advantage on all bets of about 1.4 percent, higher on certain layouts and special bets.

Just as the come wager resembles the pass line bet, the don't come wager resembles the don't pass line wager. At any point in a game can a don't come wager be made by placing chips on the Don't Come Bar. The next dice roll immediately thereafter serves as the come-out roll for that particular wager. If the come-out roll comes up a 7 or 11, the bet loses. If it comes up a 3, the bet wins. All other numbers rolled are considered point numbers, which if rolled again before rolling a 7 or 11, will cause the don't come wager to lose. (If the point number is established, the dealer will move the wager to the corresponding box number on the craps table) Rolling a 7 or 11 before the point number is hit again, will produce a winning don't come bet.

In this system, you raise your bet one unit if you lose and lower it one unit if you win, which means your winning bets will be higher than your losing bets. It would look like this in practice: 1, lose and go to 2, lose and go to 3, win and drop to 2, lose and go to 3, lose again, bet 4, win, bet 3 ad infinitum. It looks attractive, but the end result is the same: you will eventually lose your money. A ten loss series would have you down 55 units and you would have a helluva time getting out of that hole.