Craps Buy vs Place Bets: How to Choose the Right Strategy

Today, we’re going to look at the ‘craps place vs buy’ conundrum. It’s always seemed to be a question mark for most players, so we’re going to finally put the place vs. buy craps question to bed. 

It’s an easy one to solve, and when you’ve finished this article, you will have the right answer to the buy vs place craps question.

Place vs Buy Bets

A Place Bet is usually made after the point is established, and the player simply requests the number(s) he wants to bet on.

The casino pays reduced odds because the player chooses the number, and the bet is never put at risk by going through the Come.

The odds paid on place bets vs the true odds of the number coming up before a 7 are:

Numbers bet	Place bet odds paid	True odds and buy bet odds paid
6 and 8	7 to 6	6 to 5
5 and 9	7 to 5	3 to 2 (71/2 to 5)
4 and 10	9 to 5	2 to 1

What are place bets

A Place Bet is a bet that one of the box numbers will roll before a 7. 

The Place bets are always off on the Come-Out roll, although you can call them on if you want to. 

Check out the Place Bet guide for all it is to know about this bet.

What are Buy Bets

A Buy bet is just like a Place Bet, except that you pay an additional 5% vigorish (commission) to get paid the true odds of the number hitting before a 7, vs the reduced odds the Place bet pays.

Find out more about it from the Buy Bets guide.

What is a Place to Lose Bet?

A Place to Lose bet is a bet that the 7 will show up before the chosen number. 

Instead of making a Lay bet and paying the 5% juice, the player bets more to win less, because he’s betting on the 7, the favorite. 

A Place to Lose bet is almost unheard of. 

In more than 35 years, I never had anyone try to make this bet.

What is a Lay Bet

A Lay Bet is a bet that the 7 will show up before the chosen number. 

A player requesting a ‘no 8’ lay bet is betting that the 7 will show up before the 8. 

The player pays 5% juice on the amount to be won, unlike a buy bet, where the juice is paid on the amount of the bet. 

In this example, he must bet the true odds of the 7 hitting before the 8. 

If he wanted to win $20, he would have to bet $24 ‘no 8’, plus pay 5% of $20 ($1), for a total outlay of $25.

If he decides to take the bet down before it hits or loses, he gets his $24 lay bet, and the $1 juice returned.

Which of the 2 bets should you choose?

Well, it depends.
 
Listed below are the House Advantage numbers for a Place bet, a Buy bet with the vigorish paid when the bet is made, and a Buy bet with the vigorish paid if/when the bet hits. Some casinos do it one way, some the other. 

It does make a big difference in some cases, and you can see from the table what the differences are.

The higher the House Advantage number, the worse it is for the players.

Where is the Bet?	Place Bet	Buy and pay the vig up front	Buy and pay the vig if it hits	Best choice to make	Best choice if you have to pay the vig up front
6 and 8	0.46%	1.46%	0.69%	Place the bet	Place the bet
5 and 9	1.11%	1.32%	0.56%	Buy and pay the vig after it hits	Place the bet
4 and 10	1.67%	1.19%	0.42%	Buy and pay the vig if it hits	Buy and pay the vig up front

Expert’s Advice

The net result as you can see from the table is:

1. Always place the 6 and 8 and don’t buy them, no matter when the vig is paid
2. Always buy the 5 and 9 if the vig is paid after the number hits but place them if the buy bet vig is paid as you make the bet.
3. Always buy the 4 and 10, and it doesn’t matter when the vig is paid.

Conclusion

There you have it – it’s a pretty simple equation, isn’t it?

I’ve always bought the 4 and 10 and I generally don’t place the other numbers.

I usually play the 4 and 10 and use the super-Paroli system (bet all the money back, not just double the bet), or a Three Point Molly. 

Go here for a link to our article on the Three Point Molly.

If you decide to buy the 5 and 9, buying them only makes sense if you pay the vig after the number hits.

And you always place the 6 and 8, no matter when the buy bet vig gets paid.

And good luck!