Buy and lay: when true odds are worth the commission

A buy bet is a place bet that pays true odds in exchange for a 5% fee. A lay bet is the same deal from the other side, betting that the 7 comes first. Whether either is worth it depends on which number, how much you bet, and exactly when the casino takes its cut.

What a buy bet is

A place bet on the 4 pays 9 to 5 when the true odds are 2 to 1. The casino keeps that gap as its edge. A buy bet closes the gap: you tell the dealer “buy the 4,” the dealer marks your chips with a BUY button, and if the 4 rolls before a 7 you get paid the full 2 to 1. In return the house charges a commission, called the vig or vigorish: 5% of the bet, with a minimum of $1.

Otherwise it's a place bet: wins when the number rolls, loses on a 7, stays up after a win, comes down whenever you like, off on the comeout unless you say otherwise.

The 5% works out cleanly on round amounts. Buy the 4 for $20 and the vig is $1. Buy it for $40 and it's $2. That's why buy bets are made in $20 steps, and the $1 minimum is why buying for less is a mistake, as you'll see below.

When the vig is charged changes everything

Casinos collect that commission one of two ways.

Vig up front. You put down $21 to buy the 4 for $20. The $1 is gone the moment you bet, win or lose. This is the traditional way and many casinos still do it.

Vig on the win. You put down $20. If the 4 hits, the dealer pays $40 at true odds and takes the $1 out of it, so you collect $39. If the 7 rolls, you lose $20 and pay no commission. This is how PointPuck handles it, and many Las Vegas tables do the same.

The 4 rolls 3 ways, the 7 rolls 6, so over 9 resolutions you win 3 and lose 6.

Same bet, same payout, and the edge nearly triples, because up front you pay the dollar on the six losing bets too. At a live table, ask how the vig is charged before you buy anything.

Buy the 4, 5, 9, and 10 in $20 units. Never buy the 6 and 8.

Whether buying beats placing comes down to how bad the place bet was to begin with. The place 4 and 10 are the worst place bets on the table at 6.67%. Buying them for $20 at 1.67% is a huge improvement; even with the vig up front, 4.76% beats 6.67%. On the 4 and 10, always buy, never place, at $20 a time.

The 5 and 9 are the same story with smaller numbers. Placing them costs 4.00%. Buy the 5 for $20 and a hit pays 3 to 2, which is $30, minus the $1 vig, for $29. Over 10 resolutions the 5 rolls 4 times for $116 and the 7 rolls 6 times for $120. Down $4 on $200: 2.00%, half the place edge. (Vig up front makes it 4.76%, which is why the old live-table rule was “buy the 4 and 10, place everything else.” On PointPuck, buy the 5 and 9 too.)

The 6 and 8 are where buying stops helping. Placing them costs only 1.52%, because the 7 to 6 place payout is already a whisker under the true 6 to 5. Buy the 6 for $30 and a hit pays $36 minus the $1 vig: $35. Place the same $30 and 7 to 6 pays $35. Identical. At $60 the buy pays $72 minus $3, or $69, while the place bet pays $70, so the buy is now a dollar worse. There is no amount at which buying the 6 or 8 beats placing. Place them.

The $1 minimum kills small buys

Everything above assumes $20 units because of the minimum commission. Five percent of $5 is 25 cents, but the house won't take less than $1, and on a small buy that dollar is a far bigger bite than 5%.

Buy the 4 for $5. A hit pays 2 to 1, $10, minus the $1 minimum vig: $9. That is exactly what a $5 place bet on the 4 pays, so you've gained nothing, and the edge is the same 6.67%. Buy the 5 for $5: 3 to 2 is $7.50, floored to $7, minus $1 is $6. A $5 place bet pays $7. You've turned a 4.00% bet into a 12% one. Buy the 6 for $6: 6 to 5 is $7.20, floored to $7, minus $1 is $6, against $7 for placing. Terrible every time.

The break-even is $20, where 5% is exactly $1. Below that, place. At $20 and up, buy the 4, 5, 9, and 10.

What a lay bet is

A lay bet is a buy bet turned around: you bet that the 7 rolls before the 4. Since the 7 is the favorite, you put up the bigger side of the odds. Lay against the 4 or 10 and you risk $2 to win $1. Against the 5 or 9 it's $3 to win $2. Against the 6 or 8 it's $6 to win $5. These are the same numbers as the lay odds behind a don't pass bet, because it's the same idea: true odds, seen from the 7's side.

The 5% vig on a lay is figured on the amount you stand to win, not the amount you risk, minimum $1. Lay $40 against the 4 to win $20: the vig is $1 and a winning lay pays $19. On PointPuck that dollar comes out only when you win. If the 4 rolls, it takes your $40 with no commission.

Like place and buy bets, a lay is off on the comeout by default at PointPuck, which is worth noticing because a comeout 7 is exactly what a lay bettor wants. You can turn it on; the comeout rules article walks through the trade-off.

The lay edges are 1.67% against the 4 or 10, 2.00% against the 5 or 9, and 2.27% against the 6 or 8, and they don't have the buy's $20 threshold because the vig is figured on the win, which is smaller than the bet. Lay $40 against the 4: over 9 resolutions the 7 shows 6 times and pays $19 each for $114, while the 4 shows 3 times and costs $40 each for $120. Down $6 on $360 laid, which is 1.67%.

When a lay makes sense

Most people never lay a number, and that's fine. The reasons to do it are narrow:

• You play the don't side and want action against a specific number without waiting for a don't come to travel. Laying the 4 or 10 at 1.67% is a reasonable extension of a 1.36% don't pass game.
• You believe this shooter is about to seven out. The lay is the direct way to bet that, and the price is fair-ish on the 4 and 10.
• You'd rather win small and often. A lay against the 4 or 10 wins two times in three, which some people find easier to sit through than a losing streak on the right side.

The reasons not to lay are just as real. You risk a lot to win a little, so one bad roll erases several wins. Laying the 6 or 8 at 2.27% means risking $24 to net $19 while the 6 shows 5 of every 11 resolutions. That's a lot of exposure for a slim win.

Three ways to bet the 10, side by side

The same number from every angle, in normal units, on PointPuck's rules.

If you only remember one thing: on the 4, 5, 9, and 10, a $20 buy is a place bet with a better price. On the 6 and 8, placing is never beaten. Below $20, the minimum vig eats the difference, so place. And a lay is what you use when you want the 7 to come and don't want to wait for the pass line to tell you where.