Craps Buy Vs Place
This question comes up all the time. Which is a better bet in the game of Craps, a ‘Come Bet’ or a ‘Place Bet’?
The term ‘Buy bets’ refers to a number of betting options on the craps table which bear a slight resemblance to the place bets, which we cover in a different article. However, where the two bet types differ makes all the difference. The main difference between place and Buy bets lies in the amount of money that you receive at the end of the. That means there are six different buy bets: The Buy 4, Buy 5, Buy 6, Buy 8, Buy 9, and Buy 10 wagers. As an example, to win a Buy 8 bet, the shooter needs to roll an 8 before they roll a 7. Different buy bets have disparate payoffs. The Buy 6 and Buy 8 bets pay out 23 to 21, while they have a house edge of 4.76%. Using the same $6 place bet on the six, the first time the six hits, you say 'up a unit, please' and the dealer will put $6 of your $7 win on the six and give you $1. The next time the six hits, the dealer will take $6 from your $14 win and add it to the bet on the six and give you $8. Click on the image above to instantly practice and play free craps in your browser. (Opens in separate window in full screen.). As of 2020, US players are unable to play the craps game listed above. US players please click the banners on the left side (or below for mobile users) to visit free and real-money craps games at US-friendly casinos. Craps is a very balanced game with the do and the don’t almost everywhere. So where is the mirror-opposite of the place bet? Place was originally called place to win, and there is a bet called place to lose, but most casinos don’t offer it.
Both Come Bets and Place Bets play vital rolls within different strategies and based on the particular strategy you’re using, you could make the case that either is better than the other, and not be wrong.
But, if you take a closer look at the characteristics of both Come and Place bets individually, you may be very surprised by the answer.
If you’re like me, when I was learning to play craps, I was taught to remember two things;
- Always play a Pass Line Bet with 2 Come Bets and back them up with as much in Odds as you can, and
- To win, you have to lower the house edge as much as possible and Free Odds on the PL and Come Bets are the best way to do that
To this day, when a novice player walks up to the table, that’s what the dealer, and other novice players, tell them, “Place a Come Bet and back it up with odds. So, that’s what I did. Some days, when the table was hot, I’d walk away a pretty solid winner, but when the table was choppy or cold, I would usually lose and lose fast.
After playing craps for a while, you get to know who the pros are, and I started noticing that while some of them played the Pass Line, virtually none of them used Come Bets. They were Placing Bets instead and they were winning more often than I was. How could that be? I was taught the 2 most important keys to winning, or so I thought.
Adding to my confusion, was that when my Come Bet + Odds won for the same amount as their Place Bet, the dealer was delivering a lot more chips to me than them, until I realized that almost half the chips I was getting was from my bet coming down.
It was time to take a closer look at the real differences between Come Bets and Place Bets, and I was pretty astounded by what I found out.
Craps Secrets Tip: Use Place Bets instead of Come Bets unless they’re part of a larger overall strategy.
HOUSE EDGE
The first thing to do is to check the house edge on both Come Bets and Place Bets. The house edge is the casino advantage on the bet and what you can expect to happen in the long run. The chart below shows the difference between the two.
The clear winner here is Come Bets with Free Odds and at only 1.41% for the Come, the more you back in odds, the lower you can drive the house edge.
BUT… I soon realized, there’s a number of things that the house edge on these bets doesn’t take into account.
- House edge is only calculated based on having won the bet. The Come + Odds has to win, before you can claim an advantage over Place Bets
- Come Bets are contract bets meaning once it travels to the number, it stays there until a decision is made. You don’t have the option of taking it down if you feel a Seven is coming (Odds can come down). Place Bets, on the other hand, can be taken down or turned off at any time.
- Come Bets are live during the Come-Out roll, Place Bets are not (unless you make them live). After hitting a point, if the shooter rolls a seven, your Come Bets lose.
- AND… to take advantage of the lower house edge, the number has to hit twice. First to travel to the number, then to hit the number and win.
The house edge advantage of Come Bets over Place Bets is much more cloudy when you take these factors into consideration.
Craps Buy Vs Place Bets
PAYOUTS
Let’s take a look at the payout differences between Come Bets and Place Bets. With a lower house edge, you would expect that Come Bets would clearly outperform Place Bets in this area. WELL, NOT SO FAST… Let’s take a look.
For our example, we’ll use a $10 minimum table and use the payouts for the box number (5). The place bet on the (5) carries a 4.00% house edge vs. the Come Bet at 1.41% + Free Odds. Should be easy, right?
You’re probably as surprised as I was at the results since everything I had been told was to key on Free Odds, Come Bets and House Edge. This also explains why the pros that were using Place Bets instead of Come Bets were winning significantly more than I was.
The payout is where Place Bets take a clear lead over Come Bets in a number of ways even though Free Odds are supposed to give you the biggest payouts.
- On the first hit of the number, the Come Bet travels to the number and needs to be hit again before there is any payout. The Place Bet on the (9) pays out $14 on the first hit.
- Even when you add 4 times Odds to your Come Bet, the Place Bet still pays out more on the second hit.
- This is due to the Come Bet itself that is only paid out at 1 to 1, so while the Odds pay out at a higher rate, it needs to make up the lesser payout on the original Come Bet
- When you get to 5 times Odds or a total of $60 in bets, the Come Bet beats the Place Bet by $1, BUT… you still haven’t made up the $14 win on the first hit.
- It takes almost 20X Odds before your Come Bet pays out more that the Place Bet including the 1st hit on the number. In our example, that would mean putting $200 behind your $10 come bet to outpace a Place Bet.
- While you can still find casinos that offer 100X Odds, most have moved to 3/4/5X Odds and some at 10X, which keeps your Come Bets producing less than Place Bets on the craps tables.
Based on the findings above, unless you’re at a casino that offers at least 20X Odds AND have the bankroll to support $200+ bets, you’re significantly better off using Place Bets to win at the casino.
When I made the switch to Place Bets, I became a lot more consistent at leaving the casino with their money in my pockets rather than the other way around.
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BEST OF LUCK AT THE CASINOS!!!
Since the Peppermill video, I’ve been asked about buy bets and whether they’re better than place bets.
Let’s talk about buy bets.
WHAT ARE BUY BETS?
In a standard game of craps, a buy bet is a bet on a box number of 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10. You can buy one, select a number, or all.
How to Identify the Buy Bet and Place Bets on a Layout
In the picture below, the ‘box’ numbers of 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10 all have bets on them.
A place bet is indicated by one or more chips in a bet that straddle the line. In the picture below, the blue arrow is pointing to a place bet. Notice how the chip straddles the line.
The red arrow is pointing to the position of the buy bet on the 4. On a buy bet, the chips are located inside the box and do not touch the line. Also, there is a button that says ‘buy’ on the chip. There is also a buy bet on the 10.
On an unrelated issue, the yellow arrow is pointing to a Don’t Pass bet with odds.
Most players prefer to place the numbers. If you’re not familiar with place bets, then go here for a refresher: place bets.
A buy bet is like a place bet, but with the difference that the player is paid true odds. For example, if the player makes a place on the 4 or 10, the casino will pay 9 to 5 if the number rolls. That means a $5 place bet pays $9, $10 place bet pays $18, $20 place bet pays $36, etc.
Compare this to the buy bet. If the player buys the same 4 or 10, the house pays true odds. $5 buy bet pays $10,$10 buy bet pays $20, and $20 buy bet pays $40.
Sounds like the buy bet is a better deal, right? I mean, a 4 or 10 place bet of $20 pays $36, while the same amount wagered made as a buy bet pays $40. That’s an extra $4.
Win-loss conditions for the place bet and buy bet are exactly the same: If the 7 rolls before the number, then you lose; if the number rolls, then you win.
What’s the catch on the buy bet? The catch is that the player must pay a 5% commission on the buy bet. That’s how the house makes a profit.
With the commission in mind, is the buy bet a better deal than the place bet? It depends.
Craps Place Bets Payouts
COMMISSION
There are two types of commissions when it comes to buy bets: commission paid upfront, and commission paid after the win.
Commission Paid Upfront
The commission paid upfront is more advantageous for the house, and less for the player. Most Las Vegas strip casinos charge the commission upfront. This means that the moment you make the bet, you must pay the commission, win or lose.
Let’s say you decide to buy the 4 for $20. That would require you to outlay $21. $20 goes to the bet, and the house keeps $1 as the commission.
If the buy bet wins, you have to pay an additional $1 for the next. Some players mistake this second commission as a commission on the win. It’s not. It’s a commission for the next bet that hasn’t yet been determined.
Commission Paid on the Win
This is the better form of commission for the player. On commissions paid after the win, the player doesn’t pay the commission if he or she loses.
Let’s take the same buy bet on the 4 for $20. The player only needs to outlay $20 to make the bet. Only if the player wins does he or she need to pay the commission.
House Edge on Commissions
The following are the house edges…
Commissions paid upfront
- 6 and 8
- House edge of 4.76%
- 5 and 9
- House edge of 4.76%
- 4 and 10
- House edge of 4.76%
Commissions paid on wins
- 6 and 8
- House edge of 2.27%
- 5 and 9
- House edge of 2.0%
- 4 and 10
- House edge of 1.67%
From the numbers above, it’s clear that the commissions paid on wins is the better deal for the player. The problem is that most casinos charge commissions upfront. Most players don’t care, so the casino will make a profit wherever it can. Usually, it’s casinos that market themselves as gambler friendly casinos that offer the commission paid after the win.
SO PLACE IT OR BUY IT?
These are the house edges for place bets…
- Place 6 or 8
- House edge of 1.52%
- Place 5 or 9
- House edge of 4.00%
- Place 4 or 10
- The whopping house edge of 6.67%
- Don’t ever place the 4 or 10
So the answer on whether to place or buy depends on which number you pick.
Guideline On Whether to Place or Buy
6 and/or 8
- ALWAYS place bet.
- Under no circumstances is a buy bet of 6 or 8 better than the 1.52% house edge of a place bet.
5 and/or 9
- Depends on whether commission is paid upfront or on wins.
- Place bet if commission is paid upfront.
- Buy if commission is paid after the win.
4 and/or 10
- ALWAYS buy
ADVICE ON BUY BETS
The Easy to Remember Advice
Given a choice between place bets or buy bets, never buy the 6 or 8.
Given a choice between place bets or buy bets, only buy the 5 or 9 if commission is paid after the win. If commission is paid upfront, place the 5 or 9.
Always buy the 4 or 10, regardless of how commission is paid.
Craps Buy Vs Place
Always buy in increments of at least $20. Do not buy increments of less than $20. If you buy in increments less than $20, you increase the house edge.
The Better Advice
If you are willing to commit this to memory, this is the optimum buying strategy with regards to the proper amount bet. You may face some resistance from dealers who are not aware of the rules, but if you obtain the proper amount to bet, you will lower the house edge more than the published numbers.
Proper Increments
Always bet in proper increments. The proper increments for each bet vary from casino to casino, and even crew to crew. The idea behind the proper increment is that you want to bet as much as possible for a single $1 commission.
The house edge numbers I presented above are for $20 increments. You can lower the house edge even more by finding out how much you can bet the same commission. The reason this works is that casinos will typically round down the commission. For example, on $24 buy bet on the 4 and 10, the commission is $1.20. The casino will typically round down and charge you $1.
The proper amount varies. I’ve been to casinos where the casino rounds up if the commission is 50 cents or higher. For example, if the buy bet is $30, the 5% commission comes out to $1.50, which is then rounded up to $2. If that’s the case, then the proper bet is $29 increments on the 4 and 10.
I’ve also been to casinos what allow a player to bet $39 because they do not ever round up. $39 at 5% would be$1.95, whereas $40 would be $2.
To find out the optimum amount of the buy, ask the dealer this question:
‘How much can I bet and still only pay $1 commission?’
Once you obtain that answer, bet in those increments. Be aware that you may run into some dealers who are inconsistent in applying their answers. At one casino, I was told that I could bet $39 for $1, but the same dealer charged me $3 to bet $59.
An Exception to the minimum $20 Increment Rule
I’ve advised you to not buy the 4 and 10 unless you bet in increments of at least $20. However, this is not always true. Even if you only bet $10, you are better off buying the 4 or 10. The problem is that sometimes, dealers will incorrectly tell you that you must bet $20 to buy the 4 and 10. So be prepared to face some occasional resistance if you try to buy the 4 and 10 for $10.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
The vast majority of craps players love the place bets or buy bets. Most players hate the idea of seeing a box number roll and not getting paid. That’s the reason why place bets and buy bets are more popular than come bets.
Another reason for the popularity of place bets and come bets is that the player is able to control which number to bet. That’s a common sentiment, although, to be frank, this idea is complete bullshit. There is no way to know if a number will continue to roll just because it has already rolled in the past.
The downside of place bets and buy bets, as I’ve discussed and demonstrated before, is that the moment the player makes the place bet or buy bet, the player can immediately lose his or her bet. This is what balances out the idea that the player didn’t win anything the first time that the number rolled. In short, the come bet + odds bet is significantly better, from a mathematical perspective than either the place or buy bet.
However, I’m not here to tell you how to bet. I’m also not here to change your mind. There are some subtle differences in the place bets and buy bets compared to come + odds. I understand why the vast majority of players prefer place or buy bets; after all, the win-loss conditions are different for the come + odds bet compared to the former bets.
If you insist on making a place bet or buy bet, follow this guide. The win and loss conditions for both the place bets and buy bets are exactly the same (that’s not true for the come + odds). By following this guide, you will win more money for doing nothing other than understanding the game.
Good luck and may fortune be with you always.
Posted in: Craps