- Pays
- 2 to 1
- House edge
- 1.67%
- Decided by
- Number or 7
- Can be made
- Any roll
What a buy bet is, and how it pays
A buy bet is a place bet at true odds with a fee attached, the same true price the odds bet pays. Say buy the 4 and hand over your chips; a small Buy button goes on top. When the 4 rolls before a seven you get 2 to 1, minus 5% of the bet. A seven loses.
The difference shows up on the payout. A $20 buy on the 4 wins $40 at true odds, and the house takes $1, which is 5% of the $20 bet. The same $20 placed on the 4 would win only $36 at 9 to 5. You pay $1 to collect $4 more.
Vig on the win or vig up front: two edges for one buy bet
Casinos collect the commission in one of two ways, and the difference matters more than any other detail on this page. Some take the 5% only when the bet wins. Others take it when you make the bet, win or lose. Ask the dealer which rule the table uses, because on the 4 and 10 the edge nearly triples.
| Number | Buy pays | Vig taken on wins | Vig paid up front |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 or 10 | 2 to 1 | 1.67% | 4.76% |
| 5 or 9 | 3 to 2 | 2.00% | 4.76% |
| 6 or 8 | 6 to 5 | 2.27% | 4.76% |
With the vig up front, every buy costs 4.76%, because you pay 5% whether or not the number rolls. With vig on wins you pay only when you collect, so the price falls as the number gets harder to hit. Two times in three a bought 4 or 10 loses, and then the fee is never paid.
| Bet | Pays | House edge | Per roll |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 4 | 2 to 1 less 5% | 1.67% | 0.42% |
| Buy 5 | 3 to 2 less 5% | 2.00% | 0.56% |
| Buy 6 | 6 to 5 less 5% | 2.27% | 0.69% |
| Place 4 | 9 to 5 | 6.67% | 1.67% |
| Place 5 | 7 to 5 | 4.00% | 1.11% |
| Place 6 | 7 to 6 | 1.52% | 0.46% |
Place vs buy in craps, number by number
Put the two sets of prices side by side and the choice makes itself on most numbers. Place bets pay less than true odds but charge no fee; buying pays true odds and charges 5%. Which costs less depends on how far the place payout falls below true odds on that number, and on when the vig is collected.
Buy the 4 and 10
Always buy the 4 and 10 instead of placing them. Placing costs 6.67%, one of the worst prices outside the proposition box. Buying with vig on wins costs 1.67%, and even the up-front version at 4.76% still beats the place bet. No common rule set makes placing the outside numbers the cheaper choice.
The 5 and 9 depend on the vig rule
The 5 and 9 are the only close call. Placing them costs 4.00%. Buying costs 2.00% if the vig comes out of wins, so buy. If the vig is paid up front the buy costs 4.76%, so place instead. It is the one spot where you have to ask the dealer before deciding, because the answer flips with the rule.
Place the 6 and 8
Never buy the 6 or 8. Placing costs 1.52% and buying costs 2.27% at best, because the 7 to 6 place payout is already close to the true 6 to 5. A $30 place bet on the 6 wins $35. A $30 buy wins $36 but pays $1.50 in vig, netting $34.50. The place bet pays more on every win.
The minimum buy bet that makes the vig fair
Casinos collect the commission in whole dollars, so small buys pay far more than 5%. On a $20 buy the $1 vig is exactly 5%. A $10 buy usually still pays $1, which is 10% of the bet, and the 1.67% edge on the 4 or 10 doubles to 3.33%. The sensible minimum on the outside numbers is $20.
Above $20 the rounding can work for you. Some casinos round the fee down, charging $1 on buys up to $39. At $35 on the 10, a $1 fee is under 3% of the bet, and the effective edge drops to about 0.95%, well below the posted 1.67%. Ask the dealer where the next dollar of vig starts.
Lay bets: backing the seven at true odds
A lay bet is the dark-side buy. You bet a seven beats a chosen number, at true odds, so you risk more than you win: $40 to win $20 against the 4 or 10, $30 to win $20 against the 5 or 9, $30 to win $25 on the 6 or 8. The commission is 5% of the win.
Traditionally the lay commission is charged when you make the bet. Lay $40 against the 4 and you hand over $41. Under that rule the edge is 2.44% against the 4 or 10, 3.23% against the 5 or 9 and 4.00% against the 6 or 8. Taken only on wins, those fall to 1.67%, 2.00% and 2.27%.
Laying the 4 or 10 is the natural choice, because the seven rolls twice as often as either number. A lay bet is also the honest route to dark-side action mid-hand, since a Don’t Pass cannot be made once a point is on. Laying the 6 or 8 at 4.00% costs almost triple a Don’t Pass.
| Bet | Pays | House edge | Per roll |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lay 4 | 1 to 2 less 5% of the win | 2.44% | 0.61% |
| Lay 5 | 2 to 3 less 5% of the win | 3.23% | 0.90% |
| Lay 6 | 5 to 6 less 5% of the win | 4.00% | 1.22% |
| Don't Pass | 1 to 1 | 1.36% | 0.40% |
| Don't Come | 1 to 1 | 1.36% | 0.40% |
Working, off and taking a buy bet down
Buy bets follow the place bet convention: off on the come-out unless you call them working, and removable whenever you like. Lay bets usually work on every roll, including the come-out, since a seven helps them. A steady lay against the 4 or 10 fits neatly into a don’t pass strategy that wants extra coverage without new line bets.
Online, the rules are set per game. Licensed craps in New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia is approved by regulators such as the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, and whether a game offers buy and lay bets, and when it takes the commission, is written in its help screen. Compare it with the craps payouts above before you buy anything.
At a live table with the vig up front, hand the dealer $21 and say buy the 10, with the vig. The dealer puts $20 on the number under a Buy button and drops the dollar in the bank. At a vig-on-win table, hand over $20 instead, and the fee comes out of the payout.