Craps Place Bets

The passline bet with odds is the best craps bet you can make because it has the lowest house edge but players are not limited to just the passline bet. A player can bet on the numbers 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 at any time. There is a row of boxes on the craps layouts with the numbers with the corresponding numbers. These are where the place bets go. The numbers that you can place are sometimes referred to as “point numbers” or “box numbers. You can make a wager on any of these numbers at any time. Place bets can be great if you have a shooter who is rolling repeating numbers.

How to Make Place Bets: To make a place bet you put your chips in the center of the table and tell the dealer which numbers you want to place. The dealer will then move your chips to the number you want to bet. Place bets are not self service bets.

The dealer puts your place bet on the layout in a place that corresponds to the location of the table where you are standing. This is how the dealer knows who to pay for the winning bet when there are multiple players placing the same number.

Winning Your Bet: After you place a number it must roll before the seven in order to win. If the shooter sevens out before your number is rolled you lose. When you win a place bet the dealer will push you your winnings but the original bet stays up. You must pick these up.

Your original bet will stay on the place number until the shooter sevens out or until you ask the dealer to take your bet down. You can also take down your place bets any time you want to. If the shooter makes his point and there is a new come out roll your place bet still stays in place although in many casinos the place bets are not working on the come out roll unless you ask.

The Pay Out : The chart below shows the payoff, the true odds and the house edge for each of the pace bets.

The true odds of rolling the 6 or 8 are 6 to 5 but a winning place bet on these numbers pays $7 to $6. You must make your place bets on these numbers in multiples of six dollars. The house edge on the 6 and 8 is only 1.52 percent which makes it one of the best craps bets in the game.

The true odds of rolling a 5 or 9 are 3 to 2 but a winning place bet on these numbers pays $7 to $5. You must make your place bets in multiples of five dollars. The house edge on the 5 and 9 is 4 percent.

The true odds of rolling the 4 or 10 are 2 to 1 but a winning place bet on these numbers pays $9 to $5. You must make your place bets in multiples of five dollars. The house edge on the 4 and 10 is 6.67 percent.

Buy Bets: You can buy a number instead of placing it and receive true odds. To do this you must pay a 5 % commission to the house. Since the minimum chip value at the casino is a dollar you will be paying at least that much. It is not worth it to buy a number for less than $20.

If you are betting more than ten dollars, buying the 4 and 10 is better than placing them. This is because you are being paid 2 to 1 instead of 9 to 5. Some casinos only charge you the commission on buy bets when you win. Ask the dealer at the table if this is their policy. If you have a choice of casinos to play in, always choose the one that only charges a commission on winning bets.

Buying the 6 and 8 is not worthwhile. You will actually have higher house edge because of the commission.