By Larry Edell

Pssst...! Wanna know a secret?

How about the secret of the field bet in craps?

As you might know, the field bet is a one roll bet. So if any number other than 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 or 12 rolls, you lose. The other numbers 5, 6, 7 and 8 roll a total of 20 times while the field numbers roll only 16 times. On the surface, it looks like the field is a bad bet.

Wanna know how craps pros use the field to make more money?

Let's find out how!

Craps professionals know that their winning depends on streaks. When a positive streak occurs, they bet more. When a negative one appears, they bet less. When you play the field, you can determine whether to increase or decrease your bets, and then use a rotating field progression.

In order to accomplish this efficiently, you will need a win goal and a loss limit. Let's say your buy-in is $500, so your starting unit on the field should be $5. You should not make any other bets and you should quit when you've won or lost the same amount - approximately 30% of your buy in, or $150 in this case.

You'll need to keep betting on the field without missing any bets. This means you have to bet before the come out as well, and be 100% sure the dealers know your bet is on. If you make a bet and the dealer even thinks it is off then you won't get paid.

To start, take a red chip and place it on the field. If you win, increase your bet by one unit ($5). If you win again, increase it by one unit again. So now you have $15 on the field. If you lose the next bet, just go down one unit, so you're now at $10.

You are not doubling your bet on a win, even if you hit a two or twelve. You are going up one unit when you win and going down one unit when you lose. If you have $50 on the field and the twelve (or two) hits and you win $100, just increase your next bet by $5 to $55 and pocket the rest.

Your win goal of $150 means the money in your pocket plus your money on the table. So if you started out with $500 and now have a combination of $150 on the table plus the chips on your rack then it's time to stop.

If the shooter happens to hit a string of non field numbers, you are limited in your losses, because you are decreasing your bet by one unit on a loss until you hit zero. Then you'll start betting one unit ($5) again. At zero, if you lose four bets in a row you are down $20 (4 x $5). If you then win the next four bets in a row you are up $50 ($5 +$10+$15+$20). Remember, you will keep betting until you either win or lose 1/3 of your buy in.

The most important part of this is to make sure your field bet is always "on" before the come out. Once you tell the dealers what you are doing, they will help you with this, but when you first start out betting, make sure they know your bet is always "on." You don't want to lose money even though you made the correct bet!

Pssst...! Now you know the secret of betting on the field!