Working on the comeout: what's ON, what's OFF, and why

Half the confusion at a craps table comes from one roll: the comeout. Some bets are live, some are asleep, and the dice don't tell you which. Here is what the puck means, which bets sit out by default, and how to change that.

The puck tells you everything

Every craps table has a round plastic disc called the puck. One side is black and says OFF. The other is white and says ON. Between hands, and during every comeout roll, the puck sits on its black OFF side, usually in the don't come box or off to the side. The moment a point is set, the dealer flips it to white and drops it in the box for that number. When the point is made or the shooter sevens out, it flips back to OFF.

So the puck is a two-position switch that answers the only question that matters here: is the next roll a comeout (puck OFF) or a point roll (puck ON)? If you're ever unsure what a roll will do to your bets, look at the puck first. More in reading the layout.

Bets that always work

Some bets don't care what the puck says:

• The pass line and don't pass. The comeout is their roll. A 7 pays the pass line and beats the don't; 2 and 3 do the reverse; 12 beats the pass and pushes the don't.
• A come or don't come bet that has already moved to a number. Those are contract bets, and they stay live on every roll until they resolve. A comeout 7 loses a come bet on the 8 and wins a don't come on the 8.
• One-roll bets: the field, and every prop in the center. They resolve on the next throw whatever it is.

Bets that sleep by default

Four families of bets are OFF on the comeout unless you say otherwise:

• Place bets on 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10.
• Buy and lay bets on those same numbers.
• Hardways: hard 4, 6, 8, and 10.
• Odds behind a come bet. The come bet itself works; its odds don't.

OFF means the bet stays on the table but the roll ignores it. If a 6 rolls on the comeout, your place 6 doesn't win. If a 7 rolls, it doesn't lose. It's as if the chips were in your rail for that one throw. The puck being OFF already implies this for the standard set; dealers add a small OFF button only for exceptions.

The classic surprise

Here's the story every new player eventually tells. You have $50 on buy 6. The shooter makes the point, everybody cheers, and on the very next roll a 6 comes out. You reach for your winnings. The dealer says “that's a comeout, your bet's off,” and the puck flips to ON with a 6 in the box. No payout. You just watched your number roll and got nothing.

Two things are going on. First, the rule did exactly what it's supposed to. Your buy bet was asleep for the comeout, so a 6 didn't pay it, and a 7 wouldn't have taken it either. That's the trade: you give up the win on a comeout 6 and are spared the loss on a comeout 7. Second, and this is a side note, buying the 6 is never better than placing it. A $30 buy 6 pays true odds of $36 minus a $1 commission, which is $35, exactly what a $30 place 6 pays at 7 to 6. At smaller amounts the $1 minimum commission makes the buy strictly worse. Buy the 4 and 10, place the 6 and 8. Either way, the comeout rule works the same.

The mirror version happens just as often and nobody complains about it. The point is made, the comeout roll is a 7, the pass line pays, and your $12 place 6 and $12 place 8 are still standing. That's the same rule saving you $24.

Why OFF is the default

The logic is about the 7. On a comeout, most of the table has money on the pass line, and the pass line wants a 7. Place, buy, and hardway bets all lose to a 7. If those bets worked on the comeout, every pass line player would be rooting for a number that wipes out their other bets at the same time. The convention exists so that the comeout is a clean roll: you're cheering for one outcome, and the rest of your money waits.

The important thing to understand is that OFF doesn't change the price of anything. A place 6 faces the same 5 winning ways and 6 losing ways on every roll it works. Whether it works 10 rolls or 12, its house edge per resolution is the same 1.52%. Turning a bet off on the comeout doesn't make it cheaper, and turning it on doesn't make it more expensive. It only changes how many rolls the bet is exposed to, which is the same as changing how much action you're getting per hour. The edge is about the payout ratio, not the schedule. See the house edge on every bet for those ratios.

Turning bets ON

You can wake any sleeping bet for the comeout. At a live table you tell the dealer “my place bets work” or “hardways working” before the throw, and they'll put an ON button on the stack so the boxman knows. You can be selective: “work the 6 and 8, keep the rest off” is a normal request. On PointPuck each bet spot has a hover tip that shows its working status and a toggle to flip it.

It goes the other way too. During a point roll you can call a place or hardway bet OFF for a throw or two, and the dealer will mark it. Only contract bets, the pass line and any come bet that has traveled, can't be switched off. And whatever you call holds until you change it: if your place bets work on this comeout, they'll work on the next one too, which might arrive after a long hand when you've forgotten.

When you'd actually want them working

You have no pass line bet. Some players skip the line and only bet the numbers. If you're one of them, there's no 7 to root for on the comeout and no reason to sit out. Your place bets are the whole reason you're at the table; let them play. Just remember the comeout 7 will take them.

You're betting the don't pass and want the hardways or a lay bet working. A don't player is rooting against the 7 on the comeout, not for it, so the “clean roll” argument doesn't apply. A lay bet against the 4 wins on a 7 just like the don't pass loses on it; some don't players leave lay bets working to offset the comeout risk. It doesn't change the math, but it smooths the ride.

The shooter has a long comeout. A comeout can take several rolls if 7s, 11s, and craps keep coming. Every one of those is a roll your numbers could hit. If you'd rather have action than protection, turn them on.

When would you leave them off? Almost always, if you have a pass line bet. A comeout 7 is a $10 win on the line and, if your place bets are working, a loss of everything across. The default is the default because it's what most players want most of the time.

Come and don't come odds on the comeout

This one catches people who've learned the rest. A come bet with a number is a contract, so it works on the comeout. Its odds don't. If a comeout 7 rolls, the flat come bet loses and the odds are returned; if the come number rolls, the flat bet wins and the odds are returned. Say “odds work” to change that, and you'll find the toggle on PointPuck on the come bet itself.

The don't side runs the other way at most live tables. Lay odds behind a don't come typically stay working on the comeout, because a don't come bettor wins on the 7 and there's no conflict with the pass line to protect them from. Different houses handle it differently, so ask the dealer. On PointPuck, the hover tip on the don't come bet tells you what its odds are doing.

The reasoning is the same as always on the comeout. Odds carry no house edge, on or off, so nothing you choose here changes what the game costs, only how much of your money rides on a single roll. Decide that on purpose, look at the puck, and you'll never be surprised by a comeout again.