The Craps Field Bet: Winning Totals and Payout Variations

The conventional Field is a one-roll wager on totals 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 and 12. It loses on 5, 6, 7 and 8. Seven labelled winning totals do not mean seven equally likely chances: two-dice sums have different numbers of combinations.

Counting the 36 Dice Combinations

With two fair independent six-sided dice, 36 ordered combinations are equally likely. The Field totals have 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 16 combinations. The losing totals have 4 + 5 + 6 + 5 = 20. Thus the conventional Field wins on 16/36 rolls, approximately 44.44%, before considering the size of each payout.

The Exceptional Payouts on 2 and 12

Totals 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11 commonly pay 1:1 profit. The payout on 2 and 12 varies. One model pays 2:1 on both; another pays 2:1 on one and 3:1 on the other. The table’s actual wording matters, including whether a ratio is profit “to one” or total return “for one.”

Why the House Edge Changes

With 2:1 profit on both 2 and 12, a one-unit stake earns one unit on 14 combinations, two units on two combinations, and loses one unit on 20. Expected net result is (14 + 4 − 20)/36 = −2/36, giving approximately 5.56% house edge.

If one of those two extreme totals instead pays 3:1, one extra profit unit is added across the 36 equally likely combinations. Expected loss becomes 1/36, approximately 2.78%. It does not matter mathematically whether the triple payout is on 2 or 12 when both have one combination each.

These figures apply only to the stated fair-dice payout models. They are expected losses per stake, not predictions of one session.

Why a Field Win Is Not Necessarily a Combined Win

A Field wager may coexist with other bets that lose on the same roll. Its return must be compared with all relevant stakes. Calling it insurance ignores its own losing outcomes and the amounts needed to offset a separate loss.

A combination sometimes called the Iron Cross pairs Field exposure with place wagers on 5, 6 and 8. Even where a component wins on a non-seven total, that does not establish a positive overall expectation. A working 7 can lose all those components together.

Past High Totals Do Not Make Another One Due

Under independent fair dice, a sequence of 9s, 10s, 11s or 12s does not change the probability of the next roll. Describing a table as hot is not evidence that Field outcomes are temporarily more likely.

Related Explanations

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