Craps Field Bet Guide: Odds, Payout, House Edge, Strategy

The following table covers all potential outcomes if you bet on the field in craps on most tables:

Your total chance to win when you place a field bet in craps is 44.44%. You can break down all scenarios into three possible options:

• Tripling your money: you will get lucky and hit 2 or 12 in 5.56% of the rolls, getting a nice payout of 3x your initial craps field bet.

• Doubling your money: the second-best scenario when betting on the field is to hit the other winning numbers (3, 4, 9, 10, 11) and double your money, which happens 38.88% of the time.

• Losing your money: 55.56% of the time you will lose your money when you place a field bet in craps because a losing number will be rolled (5, 6, 7, 8).

Now that you know the payouts and odds, let’s discuss the house edge.

The field bet in craps usually comes with a house edge of 5.5%, based on the odds and payouts I showed you in the previous section. While certain tables offer more favorable conditions (3:1 payouts for 12, for example), they are rare to find.

If you can find a table that offers 3:1 payouts instead of 2:1 for 12 or 2, the house edge drops to 2.78%. If the payout on both is 3:1, the house edge drops to zero. Unfortunately, these scenarios are rare to find nowadays,

That’s why I will operate under the assumption you’re playing with the standard rules and a 5.5% house edge. Here’s a quick comparison of the field bet with other popular craps wagers.

As you can see from the table above, craps house edge varies greatly and the field bet is far from ideal. There are much better options out there, but there are also worse. Many players still like the wager and use it, especially in one common strategy that I cover next.

Iron Cross Odds and Payouts Table

With the craps Iron Cross strategy, your probability of losing is only 16.67% and the house edge is reduced to 2.37%. Coupled with the 3:1 odds boost, this is often a better edge than a place bet.