Lay Bet in Craps: Betting the Dark Side Guide

Making a lay bet in craps can make you a more versatile player by giving you some protection against that dreaded 7 that takes down all your place and buy bets.

The craps lay bet can be an effective hedge bet, in that it makes the number you made your lay bet against replace the 7 as the losing number that costs you your chips. 

And, that lay bet number will have fewer ways to roll and lose than that all-powerful 7.

In this guide, you will discover:

• What is a Lay Bet in Craps?
• House Edge and Commission (a.k.a. “bet vig”) Explained
• The Craps Lay Bet Odds and Payouts
• Mastering the Lay Bet in Craps - Win and Lose Examples 
• When Can the Lay Bets Cost You Dearly?
• Expert’s Advice: Are Lay Bets Your Best Choice?
• Advantages of Lay Bets

Keep reading to learn more!

What is a Lay Bet in Craps?

The craps Lay bet works exactly opposite of the way the craps buy bets work in regular craps. 

With lay bets, you win when the 7 rolls before the number your lay bet is rolled. It loses when the number that your lay bet is on rolls before the 7 rolls. 

It is a dark side bet that is often referred to as a “No” bet on one or more numbers. Lay bets are non-contract bets that are completely player-controlled. 

They can be made, bet sizes adjusted up or down, called “on” or “off”, or taken down before any roll just by telling the dealer what you want to do with them.

House Edge and Commission (a.k.a. “bet vig”) Explained

When you make a lay bet in craps, you are betting with the house in that you are betting against the number winning just like the house is; so that you have the same chance of winning that bet that the house has of winning when the 7 rolls. 

Craps lay bet odds are paid at true odds; for this reason, casinos charge a 5 percent commission on what your craps lay bet will win. 

This is so that the casino gains a 5% advantage on lay bets. 

Each casino decides when it collects the vig. Where I live, almost all  casinos collect vig up front, when the bet is made. 

Lay bets always pay less than the amount bet because it favors you to win.

Most casinos require you to bet enough to win $20 as a minimum bet, simply because they don’t want everyone and his uncle making lay bets all the time. 

The Craps Lay Bet Odds and Payout

You are more likely to win a lay bet in craps than lose it because there are more ways to roll a lay bet winning 7 than any other number. 

The payouts are at true odds, too, minus the five percent vig on your lay bet’s winning amount, which is always less than the lay bet amount.

For the 4 and 10

There are 3 ways to roll a 4:

• 1 and 3;
• 3 and 1;
• 2 and 2. 

There are also 3 ways to roll a 10:

• 4 and 6; 
• 6 and 4 ;
• 5 and 5.

Meanwhile, there are 6 ways to roll a 7:

• 1 and 6;
• 6 and 1;
• 2 and 5;
• 5 and 2;
• 3 and 4;
• 4 and 3. 

So, if you bet $40 lay 4 or $40 lay 10, they pay you at 1-to-2 odds, or $20, minus 5% vig (5% of $20 winning is $1), for $19 that the dealer pays you when you win. 

For the 5 and 9

There are 4 ways to roll a 5: 

• 1 and 4;
• 4 and 1;
• 2 and 3;
• 3 and 2. 

There are also 4 ways to roll a 9:

• 3 and 6;
• 6 and 3;
• 4 and 5;
• 5 and 4.

So, if you bet a $45 lay bet 5 or lay bet a $45 9, they pay you at 2-to-3 odds or $30, minus the $1 vig, with the dealer paying you $29 on your winning $45 lay 5 or lay 9 bets. 

For the 6 and 8

There are 5 ways to roll a 6:

• 1 and 5; 
• 5 and 1;
• 2 and 4;
• 4 and 2;
• 3 and 3.

So, if you bet a $42 lay 6 or a $42 lay 8 bet, they pay you at 5-to-6 odds, or $35, minus $2 vig, with the dealer paying you $33 on your winning $42 lay 5 or lay 9 bets.

Lay Bet Odds Chart

Here are the lay bet odds, grouped by their edge and payout odds:

Lay Bet	House Edge	True Odds and Payout
4 or 10	2.4%	1 to 2
5 or 9	3.3%	2 to 3
6 or 8	4.1%	5 to 6

Mastering the Lay Bet in Craps - Win and Lose Examples 

Lay bets usually work best on a “cold table”, where everyone’s roll is really short. 

The longer a roll goes, the more the chances become that your lay number is going to get knocked down and lost before the turn ends. 

Of course, if you are hedging buy and place bets with your lay bets, you can be collecting on those place and buy bets as the long roll progress and those place and buy bets roll.

Lay Bet Strategies in Craps

The best example of the lay bets’ most powerful winning ability is when a player ”lays the back line” before the shooter’s come out roll. 

That is where they lay against all the box numbers, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10 rolling on come out rolls.

That bet is so powerful because:

1. The shooter is usually trying to roll a 7 on his come out rolls to win his pass line bet as a “game within a game”, before the main betting action takes place
2. If that shooter does roll a come out 7, all six of those lay bets are won simultaneously. And, if a point is established, instead; the lay bettor only loses one of those six lay bets, the lay bet on the one number that rolled.

Example of “Laying the Back Line” in Craps 

Let’s say you make lay bets totaling $626 (including $18 vig) against all six box numbers before the come out roll, that’s $100 lay bets on each 4 and 10 and $102 lay bets on each 5, 6, 8, and 9.

If the shooter pops a come out 7, you would win $48 on both the 4 and 10, $65 on both the 5 and 9, and $81 on both the 6 and 8; for a total win of $388 on that one winning come out roll. If a horn number, 2, 3, 11, or 12 rolls, you would not win or lose that roll.

 

If the shooter rolled a 4 or 10, you’d only lose $102. If the shooter rolled a 5 or 9, you’d only lose $103. If the shooter rolled a 6 or 8, you’d lose only $104. 

The lay bet can also hedge other, right side, place, and buy bets, from losing, so that those right side bets losing are partially or fully offset by the winnings from the lay bet when the normally losing 7 rolls, making the lay bet a winner. 

While hedge betting with a lay bet, it is even possible to turn the 7 rolling into a profit center by over-hedging a lay bet, so that when the 7 rolls, the lay bet wins more than the total amount of right side bets made;

However, that sometimes take a considerable sized lay bet that can lose if the lay bet number is repeated before the 7 rolls.

Example of “Over Hedging” to Turn 7 into a Profit Center

You’ve just bet $110 inside, $25 place bets on 5 and 9, and $30 place bets on 6 and 8. You now also make a $300 over-hedged lay bet on 10 (or 4, your choice). 

You will now win $35 every time any of the inside four place bets are hit, and you will also win $33 if the 7 rolls if you’ve just been flat betting all along. 

That lay bet win is figured as $150 for the 1-to-2 payoff on the lay 10 bet, less the $7 vig for a $143 lay win. Your $110 loss, for your four place bets when the 7 rolled, gets subtracted from that $143 win, leaving you a $33 profit on the 7 rolling. 

Plus you collected on any and all of those place bet wins that rolled before the 7 rolled. 

Of course, you are free to take down that lay bet after getting enough place bet wins to pay for those place bets, too; then you are playing on money from the casino, instead of money taken from your buy-in.

After the lay bets were decided with either a 7 or a lay bet point number rolling, you could take down all your surviving lay bets, so that you won’t be in danger of getting them picked off one by one on subsequent rolls if the turn lasts for a great number of rolls.

Some players even bet the hard 10 bet when they have the hedge lay bet on 10. 

That cuts the ways to lose down to only rolling a 4 and 6 or a 6 and 4, but it also puts more money at risk on the table. (You’d be surprised how often these easy 10’s can roll!)

When Can the Lay Bets Cost You Dearly?

The worst that can happen when making craps lay bets is to have the shooter take down your lay bets rapidly when they are on a hot roll and keep rolling the numbers your lay bets are on. 

That’s why it’s a good idea to limit how much you are willing to lose to any one shooter while making lay bets. 

The Advantages of Playing the Lay Bet

One advantage of making a lay bet is that you get to choose what number that lay bet goes on and when or whether you replace losing lay bets. 

If you chose to lay bet the hardest numbers to roll, and therefore your most-likely number to win the lay bet, you have to bet more to fully hedge protect your place and buy bets, because of the smallest 1-to-2 payoff odds. 

If you lay the 5 or 9, with it 2-to-3 payoff odds, you can lay bet slightly less to get the same protection for hedging. 

If you lay the 6 or 8, with its 5-to-6 odds, you can lay bet even less to get the same protection for hedging; but, you are also more likely to lose to those more frequently rolled numbers. 

You can also choose to only do a partial hedge, too, to protect only a portion of your place and buy bets. 

So, it’s kind of a balancing act, and a personal choice, as to which numbers, 4-10, 5-9, or 6-8, are best to lay bet on. 

Expert’s Advice: Are Lay Bets Your Best Choice?

When you are playing on a cold table, with only short rolls happening because the 7 is rolling often, lay bets against the shooter may be one of the best bets you can make.

When you are the shooter and know which of your favorite tossing sets produce way more lay-bet-winning 7’s than the number that your lay bet is on, you pick up an extra advantage. 

The main drawback when you are the shooter is that the lay-bet-winning 7 also ends your turn shooting, so you’ll probably only win your lay bet(s) once on your turn shooting after the point number has been established.

Final thoughts

I’ve told you how you can play the lay bet in craps; but, personally, I don’t like hedge betting. 

I believe that every bet I put money on should be able to stand on its own and win, without being hedged in any way. 

So, If I can’t find a way to get a player’s advantage on a bet, I just bet a different bet with that advantage. Check out the Craps academy to learn more ways you can win at the craps table.

But, my personal beliefs shouldn’t keep you from using lay bets to broaden your game. 

Just make sure that you are NOT playing lay bets in craps on a “hot” table before betting them, because, on a hot table, lay bets seem to get picked off left and right.