Lay Bet Strategy Craps
Lay Bets Different lay bets have disparate payoffs. The Lay 6 and Lay 8 bets pay out 19 to 25 and have a house edge of 4.00%. The Lay 5 and Lay 10 bets pay out 19 to 31 and have a house edge of 3.23%. An unusual and uncommon fellow, the lay bet resembles the don't pass and don't come bets in that you are playing against the dice. The lay bet can be made at any time. In essence it's the opposite of the buy bet, and the same as the don't come bet, but with different odds. No 4 or No 10 – Good for a cold or choppy table. Basic Gist: Lay the 4 and/or the 10 and hope that 7 is thrown before the 4 or 10. Max Loss: $41 on 1 lay $82 if you lay both. You can make this bet and take it down at anytime. You can bet both the 4 and 10 at the same time. Under this strategy you will only be betting 40.6% of the time, less than the 43.5% with the 5-Count. Imagine a craps player who takes maximum odds, say 10x, on his pass line and come bets reducing the house edge to 0.18%. He avoids other bets that give the house a bigger edge.
It’s amazing, but pass, don’t pass, come, don’t come, and odds (sometimes referred to as “free odds”) make up just a fraction of the bets available on a craps table. ThereBasil Nestor is the author of the new Playboy Complete Guide to Casino Gambling. This wonderful book teaches players how to avoid sucker bets and win more when playing gambling games. He is also the author of The Smarter Bet Guide series for video poker, slots, craps, and many other books about gambling. Basil's website is www.smarterbet.com are more than two dozen others!
None of them are as good as the wagers we’ve previously covered. You won’t miss any bargains if you skip the next few articles and go our advanced craps strategy, but you will miss learning about some of the sneaky ways that a casino extracts a monster edge. Knowledge will also eliminate temptation, so you should read the next few sections to avoid being lured by whiz-bang payoffs and bets that are oh-so tempting to make.
Place Bets
Let’s say a shooter throws the following sequence: 6,5,8,10,4,7. That’s death to a do bettor; it’s a bunch of points and then seven-out, a real drag. One alternative is to bet the don’t, but there’s no guarantee that the next sequence won’t be 6,5,8,8,6,5. What can be done? Some players prefer to bet numbers directly so they’ll pay off each time the shooter rolls those numbers.
A place bet is simply a wager that a number will appear before 7. The table below shows the various place bets, the odds, and how they pay.
Place Bets
True Odds | House Odds Pay | Place House Edge |
2:1 | $108 | |
5 | 7:5 | 4.0% |
6:5 | $70 | |
8 | 7:6 | 1.5% |
3:2 | $84 | |
10 | 9:5 | 6.7% |
Notice that the 6 and 8 have an edge that’s just 0.1 percent worse than a bet on the line or come, but the edge nearly triples or quadruples on the rest of the numbers. A $60 bet on 4/10 pays $108, but odds would return $120. A bettor may not notice the $12 difference if the dice produce a lot of points, but in the long run the winning won’t keep pace with the losing. A roll of 7 will appear frequently enough to wipe out the profits. When will that happen? It might take hours, days, years, or it could happen on the next roll. Remember, the house edge works. That’s how casinos pay for the plush carpets and chandeliers.
A place bet is handled in a similar way to odds. Just put money down and say “$60 on the eight” or “place it on the five.” A dealer will move the chips to the appropriate box. Also note that 6 and 8 should be wagered in multiples of six. If you bet $25 you’ll only be paid for a win on $24.
Place bets are automatically off during a come-out. And of course, you can take them down at any time.
Buy Bets
Buy bets are similar to place bets, but they’re paid at true odds. Sounds great! Did I mention the vig? What’s a vig? We covered that in Chapter 2, but here’s a quick refresher: Vig is short for vigorish, and it’s basically a fee for making a bet. Strictly speaking, vigorish is synonymous with any casino house edge, but the word is mostly used in situations that involve a betting fee.
Buy bets are similar to place bets, but they’re paid at true odds. Sounds great! Did I mention the vig? What’s a vig? We covered that in Chapter 2, but here’s a quick refresher: Vig is short for vigorish, and it’s basically a fee for making a bet. Strictly speaking, vigorish is synonymous with any casino house edge, but the word is mostly used in situations that involve a betting fee.Buy bets have a vig of five percent on the wager. Aside from that, they’re handled like place bets. Tell the dealer which number you want to buy, and he’ll take the vig and move the chips to the appropriate box.
True Odds (against) | 5% Vig | Buy House Edge (vig on win only) |
2:1 | 3 | 1.6% |
3:2 | 3 | 1.9% |
6:5 | 3 | 2.2% |
6:5 | 3 | 2.2% |
3:2 | 3 | 1.9% |
2:1 | 3 | 1.6% |
The vig is returned if the bet is taken down. An additional vig is charged every time the dice deliver a decision. Some casinos only charge a vig on winning wagers and that drops the edge considerably, particularly on the outside numbers (4/10).
As with place bets, buy bets are automatically off during a come-out, and you can take them down at any time.
Lay Bets
Lay bets (sometimes called no bets) are the mirror opposite of buy bets. They pay true odds when the shooter rolls a seven before the number. That makes a lay bet essentially the same as laying odds, except a five-percent vig is charged on the amount to be won.
True Odds (against) | 5% Vig | Lay House Edge (vig on win only) |
1:2 | 3 | 1.6% |
2:3 | 4 | 1.9% |
5:6 | 5 | 2.2% |
5:6 | 5 | 2.2% |
2:3 | 4 | 1.9% |
1:2 | 3 | 1.6% |
Lay Bet Strategy Craps Tactics
As with buy bets, the vig is returned if the bet is taken down. An additional vig is charged every time the dice produce a decision. Also note that some casinos charge a vig only on winning wagers.
Lay bets are always on unless you request them to be turned off.
As with buy bets, the vig is returned if the bet is taken down. An additional vig is charged every time the dice produce a decision. Also note that some casinos charge a vig only on winning wagers.
Lay bets are always on unless you request them to be turned off.
Squeezing the House
Of course, if a player really wants to squeeze the house, then the best strategy is to avoid place, buy, and lay bets altogether. Some craps enthusiasts would argue that they’re not “bad” bets when compared to slots and roulette. That’s true. The world won’t end if you play them. But your bankroll may die prematurely. If you make these bets, just be aware that you’re paying for the pleasure.
Craps Lay Bet Strategy
Craps can be a daunting game for most including ourselves if we are honest and is not a game we normally play but here is the craps lay bet strategy and explanation of what exactly a lay bet is in craps.
When placing lay bets on craps you have no complicated or confusing bet combinations or hedges that are needed. Placing more than one bet will obviously reduce your odds of making a profit.
So what is a craps lay bet?
A lay bet is the opposite of a back bet in craps just like in most games that you can place lay bets on. As always it is also an easy way to get favorable odds of the selection you choose not to win giving you a high strike rate.
Place And Buy Bets Craps
A craps lay bet is a bet that a 7 won’t be rolled previous to the number that you have your money on.
So you can choose 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 and place a bet in the designated area on the table. An example can be seen above in the main picture.
There are 6 ways that the dice can be rolled to total 7!
When this is compared to the 5 ways that a 6 or an 8 can be rolled, the 4 ways in which a 5 or a 9 can be rolled and the 3 ways in which a 4 or a 10 can be rolled you can see why many craps players choose to place lay bets.
These figures are the basis of how much you are favored to win.
Best Bet In Craps
- 6 or 8 : odds are 6/5 in your favor; probabilities are 54.55 % you win, 45.45 % you won’t.
- 5 or 9 : odds are 6/4 in your favor; probabilities are 60 % you win, 40 % you’ll won’t.
- 4 or 10: odds are 6/3 in your favor; probabilities are 66.67 % you win, 33.33 % you’ll won’t.
The downside of lay bets on craps – The vigorish!
Lay Bet Craps
While lay betting on craps offer true odds this gives the casino no edge so therefor they collect a vigorish (vig).
Buy Bet In Craps
To get around this the casino’s take the vigorish which is 5% of all winning bets.
How To Place A Lay Bet In Craps
So say you place a lay bet of £40 on 4, and the shooter rolls a 7 then you will win £19. So your £40 pays 1 to 2, which makes £20.
The “vig is deducted from that amount, so 5% of £20 is £1. Your win will be £19 and you will get £59 back, your winnings and the original £40 staked.