Atlassino Academy · Craps · Lesson 8

The field and Big 6 / Big 8

One 6 on the felt can be bet in two boxes at two prices, and the field charges its price on every roll. Here is what each of these bets pays and what it costs.

About 16 minutes
Illustrated hosts: Leo and Maya
Last checked 18 October 2026

A 10 units chip in the Big 6 box and a 10 units chip placed on the 6 are both paid when a 6 comes before a 7. Do the two chips cost the same?

The short answer

No. Both chips are paid on the same rolls, because the 6 arrives first 5 times in 11 for either box, but the place 6 pays 11 to 10 and the Big 6 pays only 1 to 1. Averaged over many decisions, the Big 6 keeps 9.09% of every bet and the place 6 keeps 4.55%. The field beside them is a different kind of bet altogether: one roll settles it, so its price is charged on every roll.

One end of a craps table: the row of place numbers across the far side, the field and the Big 6 and Big 8 box in front of the players, and three chips, one in the Big 6, one placed on the 6 and one on the field.

A10 units on the Big 6
B10 units placed on the 6 by the dealer
C10 units on the field, put down by the player

Three chips at one end of the table. Chip A and chip B wait for the same 6 in two different boxes; chip C on the field is settled by the very next roll, whatever that roll turns out to be.

Leo holds both palms up like the pans of a scale above two equal chips, one in a small square in the corner of a craps layout and one in the nearest of six empty boxes, while Maya, a finger on her chin, compares them.

Leo smiling, explaining with an open hand.

Leoformer dealer · rules and maths

I used to watch people drop a chip in the Big 6 because the box sat right in front of them, while the dealer would have placed the same 6 for them at a better figure. Nothing about the dice changes between the two boxes. What changes is the figure printed for each box.

The field sits right beside it, and it looks like the friendliest box on the felt: seven totals against four. It is worth counting those totals the way the dice count them before you leave a chip there for every roll.

The same 6 in two boxes

The Big 6 and the Big 8 share a corner box in front of the players. A bet on the 6 or on the 8 can be made at any time, one number at a time, with a maximum of its own that the casino sets. A Big 6 is paid when a 6 is rolled before a 7, and it is paid one to one. The Buenos Aires rule book has the players bet only on Buena, Mala, Resultado, No resultado and the field themselves, and everything else through the dealers.

The 6 in the row of numbers across the far side of the layout is a place bet on the same number. The dealer puts that chip down for you, and pays it 11 to 10. The examples on this page put 10 units on the 6 and on the 8, an amount at which that figure comes out in whole units.

The Big 6

Who puts the chip down: The corner box in front of the players; the rule books we read do not say who puts the chip down
Settled by: the first 6 or 7 to be rolled; the 6 arrives first 5 times in 11
The box pays: 1 to 1
An example 10 units chip is paid: 10 units

The place 6

Who puts the chip down: The dealer, in the row of numbers
Settled by: the first 6 or 7 to be rolled; the 6 arrives first 5 times in 11
The box pays: 11 to 10
An example 10 units chip is paid: 11 units

Count the same decisions both ways. On average, out of every 11 decisions on the 6, the 6 arrives 5 times and the 7 arrives 6 times. Here is what those decisions do to an example 10 units chip in each box.

Decisions on the 6 for an example chip in each box, as often as the dice make them
Over 11 decisions, an example 10 units chip	Big 6	Place 6
Bet across all 11 decisions	110 units	110 units
Paid on the 5 decisions the 6 arrives	50 units	55 units
Taken on the 6 decisions the 7 arrives	60 units	60 units
Given up across the decisions	10 units	5 units

Every amount here is an example bet, not a suggested bet. Amounts are in betting units, not pesos: a unit can stand for any amount, and the arithmetic is the same at any scale.

What the two sixes cost

Divide what each chip gives up by what was bet, and you have the price of the bet: the share of every bet the box keeps, on average, over many decisions.

The 6 placed by the dealer, paid 11 to 10

4.55% of every bet, on average

The field, paid 2 to 1 on the 2 and 12

5.56% of every bet, on average

The Big 6, paid 1 to 1

9.09% of every bet, on average

The longer the bar, the more of every bet the box keeps.

One thing the place 6 does differently: on the come-out roll a place bet is off, unless you ask the dealer for it to work.

The field: seven totals, one roll

The field is the long box of seven totals in front of the players: 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 and 12. It is a one-roll bet: the very next roll settles it, paid if one of the seven totals comes up and lost on a 5, 6, 7 or 8.

Every total two dice can make, how many of the ways it falls, and what the field does on it under the rule book this lesson uses
Total rolled	Ways out of 36	The field
2	1	Paid 2 to 1
3	2	Paid 1 to 1
4	3	Paid 1 to 1
5	4	Lost
6	5	Lost
7	6	Lost
8	5	Lost
9	4	Paid 1 to 1
10	3	Paid 1 to 1
11	2	Paid 1 to 1
12	1	Paid 2 to 1

The field totals sit at the ends of the row, where the dice land least often: together 16 ways out of 36, against 20 for the four middle totals.

Bet an example 10 units on the field for each of 36 rolls that fall exactly as often as the dice say they should, and the field comes out like this.

What the field is paid on the 2 and 12, plus what it is paid on the other five field totals, minus what the four middle totals take, leaves the field short.

Paid on the 2 and 1240 units2 rolls

Paid on 3, 4, 9, 10, 11140 units14 rolls

Taken on 5, 6, 7, 8200 units20 rolls

Short at the end20 unitsout of 360 units bet

The rules of Lotería de Córdoba pay the 2 and the 12 “double”, and a Mendoza information page puts it as 2 to 1. The rule book of Buenos Aires Province prints 1 to 1 on the 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11. The prices here use the 2 to 1 reading of “double”.

A one-roll bet charges its price on every roll, a place bet only now and then

The field is settled by every roll, so a field bet left on the felt is a fresh bet on each roll, and each one is charged its price. No Argentine document we could read says how many rolls a table makes in an hour, so this page counts rolls and decisions, never hours.

A place bet or a Big 6 is settled only when its number or a 7 comes up, which is once every few rolls, so over the same rolls its price lands much more lightly. Here are the three bets side by side at an example 10 units, each kept up and working for 100 rolls.

The field, a fresh bet on every roll

55.56 units over the hundred rolls, on average

The Big 6, up and working

27.78 units over the hundred rolls, on average

The 6 placed by the dealer, up and working

13.89 units over the hundred rolls, on average

Maya with a hand on her chest, speaking gently and seriously.

Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks

Decide how much money the evening gets before you walk up to the rail, and stop when that amount is gone. Putting more on the field to get back what the last few rolls took only buys the same price, faster. If the money on the felt starts to feel like money you need, the lines below are there for exactly that.

If it stops being fun

If gambling stops being entertainment, help is available. Minimum entry age: each province sets its own. Where we found the rule or regulator that sets it, we cite it on the page; those we found set it at 18. More on responsible gaming.

Show all provinces

0800-666-6006Buenos Aires City (CABA) · Línea de orientación por juego problemático (LOTBA) · Monday to Friday, 9 to 17

0800-444-4000Buenos Aires Province · Programa de Prevención y Asistencia al Juego Compulsivo (IPLyC)

0800-777-2983Cordoba · Línea 0800-777-AYUDA (Lotería de Córdoba) · 24 hours

0800-268-5640Santa Fe · Línea gratuita de la APRECOD (Santa Fe) · Every day, 8 to 24

0800-888-2202Entre Rios · Departamento Juego Responsable (IAFAS, PREVENJUEGO)

0261-424-7536Mendoza · Programa de Juego Responsable (IPJyC) · Monday to Friday, 8 to 14

0800-888-5836Misiones · Programa de Juego Responsable del IPLyC S.E. (0800-888-LUDO)

0800-888-2008Chaco · Línea de Juego Responsable (Lotería Chaqueña)

0299-403-8900Neuquen · Líneas de contacto, orientación y tratamiento (IJAN, juego responsable) · Monday to Friday, 8 to 15

0800-222-1700Rio Negro · Línea de Orientación al Jugador Problemático (Lotería de Río Negro)

02901-433515Tierra del Fuego · Departamento Juego Responsable (IPRA, Ushuaia)

0800-555-7678Tucuman · Juego Responsable, Ley 8986 (Caja Popular de Ahorros)

0800-999-1314San Juan · Línea gratuita del Programa Provincial de Juego Responsable (Caja de Acción Social) · Monday to Friday, 08 to 12

If you are thinking about suicide, call 135 or 0800 345 1435 from anywhere in the country

Practice: same number, two prices

Each moment puts chips at one end of the table: in the Big 6 or Big 8 box, in the row of place numbers or on the field. You say which of two chips costs less, what the dealer pays when the dice come up, or what the field costs over a hundred rolls.

Nothing is rolled at random, and nothing is scored here. This level is a reference, read in order, one moment after another; the hundred-roll figures are the engine’s exact averages, not a run of dice.

The practice table needs JavaScript. Here is one bet from it, with the answer.

Same number, two boxes

Two chips waiting for the same 6

A10 units on the Big 6
B10 units placed on the 6 by the dealer

Chip A and chip B are both paid only when a 6 comes before a 7. Which of the two costs less each time it is settled?

Chip A, the Big 6, because you put it down yourself Putting the chip down yourself changes who handles it, not what it pays: the Big 6 is paid 1 to 1 on the very rolls that pay the place 6 11 to 10.
Neither: the same 6 costs the same in any box The rolls that settle the two chips are the same rolls. The payouts are not, and the payout is what sets the price.
Chip B, the 6 placed by the dealer For both chips, the 6 arrives first 5 times in 11. When it does, chip B is paid 11 to 10 and chip A is paid 1 to 1, so out of the same chance chip B gives more back.

Averaged over many decisions, the Big 6 keeps 9.09% of every bet and the place 6 keeps 4.55%.

The field and the 12

The dice show 6 and 6

A10 units on the field, put down by the player

Chip A is on the field, at a table run under the rule book this lesson uses. The dice come up 6 and 6. What is chip A paid?

20 units The 12 is one of the two field totals paid 2 to 1.
The chip is lost The 12 is one of the seven field totals. The field is lost on a 5, 6, 7 or 8, and a 12 is paid.
10 units That is 1 to 1, the figure for 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11.

The field is paid on seven totals and lost on four. The 2 and the 12, which the dice make least often, are paid 2 to 1; the other five field totals are paid 1 to 1.

Every moment in the practice run is worked out the same way: each payout is settled by the dice engine on the figures of the rule book this lesson uses, and each average is the engine’s exact figure for those payouts.

How the practice run works

Where the moments come from. Every payout in the practice run is settled by the same dice engine as the rest of this page, on the figures of the rule book this lesson uses, and every average is that engine’s exact figure for those payouts. Nothing is typed in by hand. Each wrong answer is one named mistake: the two boxes swapped, the place-bet figure given to the Big 6, the 12 taken for a total the field loses on, a 7 taken for a field total, or one field bet in place of a hundred.

No strip, no score. This level has no squares to fill. You read each moment, choose, read why, and move on to the next one.

Your progress stays in this browser, and nothing is sent anywhere.

Where to check this, and further reading

Craps in Argentina The rooms we list that have a craps table, and what each of them says about the game in its own words.

18+ under each province’s rules · Play responsibly · the helplines are further up this page

How it’s worked out

Payouts, numbers, sources and hosts

Where this happens. Every table on this page follows the rules of play published by Lotería de Córdoba for its casinos (craps rules, Article 2: VII Campo, VIII Grande de 6 u 8 and XII A colocar de Buena): a published rule book, not a report of what any one room deals on a given night. The rule book of Buenos Aires Province (IPLyC, Resolución 1452/12, chapter 13) is quoted for its field and place figures. The Big 6 and Big 8 are in the Córdoba rules and in a Mendoza information page only, so they are priced by the Córdoba figure.

Numbers. Every payout is settled by the dice engine on those figures, every chance is counted from the thirty-six ways two dice fall, and every share of a bet is worked out from the chance and the payout when the page is built. Our checks recompute each figure from the engine rather than reading it back from this page. Money is rounded to the cent. The cost of a place bet or a Big 6 over a hundred rolls counts only rolls on which the bet is up and working.

What is deliberately absent. There is no pace and no price of an hour on this page: no Argentine document we could read prints how many rolls a craps table makes in an hour, so the cost of the field is counted per roll and per hundred rolls. The Córdoba rules pay the 2 and the 12 “double”, and this page reads that as 2 to 1, the figure a Mendoza information page prints for it; it does not turn the “three to one” that the same page says some casinos pay into a figure, because the page does not say on which total. Whether a Big 6 or Big 8 is working on the come-out roll is not something the rule books we read say, and this page does not say it either. The Córdoba text says the Big 6 and Big 8 “play tiro a tiro”, roll by roll; the Mendoza page describes them as bets that the number comes before a 7. This page takes when the bet is settled from the Mendoza page and what it pays, one to one, from both. The amounts in the examples are chosen so that the place bets come out in whole units; no rule book we read asks for that.

Sources. Every payout and every claim on this page carries a button with the sentence it rests on, the publisher who wrote that sentence and the date we read it.

Hosts. Leo and Maya are illustrated characters. Their backstories, a former dealer and a former floor supervisor, are written for the course: neither is a real person, and neither speaks for any casino. The rules and numbers on this page come from the sources it cites, not from their experience.

No promise. Craps is played against the house. Knowing what each box pays tells you what each bet costs; nothing on this page makes any bet free of cost, and nothing here says how an evening at the table would end.

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