Place bets: the everyday way to bet a number

A place bet lets you pick a number and get paid every time it rolls before a 7. It's the most common bet on the table after the pass line, it's simple, and it's priced fairly on some numbers and badly on others. Here is how to size it, what it pays, and what the dealer means by press, same bet, and take it down.

What placing a number means

A place bet is a wager that a specific point number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10) will roll before the next 7. There's no comeout, no point to establish, no waiting. You tell the dealer “place the 6 for six dollars,” the dealer sets your chip in the 6 box, and from the next roll on you win every time a 6 shows and lose once when a 7 shows.

Two things make place bets different from the pass line. They pay over and over: a winning place bet stays up and keeps working unless you take it down. And you're in control: add to it, reduce it, or pull it off between any two rolls. A pass line bet, once the point is set, is locked in until it resolves.

By default place bets are off on the comeout. While the shooter is coming out for a new point, they sit there but don't win or lose: a comeout 7 doesn't take them, a comeout 6 doesn't pay them. You can ask for them to be “working” if you want, and the comeout rules article covers when that makes sense.

What each number pays

Place bets pay a little less than true odds. That gap is the house edge. Here is the full schedule:

Read the middle two columns together. A fair bet on the 4 would pay 2 to 1, since the 7 has six ways and the 4 has three. The casino pays 9 to 5 instead, which is 1.8 to 1. A fair bet on the 6 would pay 6 to 5, or 1.2 to 1. The casino pays 7 to 6, which is 1.167 to 1. The 6 and 8 are shaved by a hair; the 4 and 10 are shaved by a lot.

Where do the edge numbers come from? Take the 6. Over 11 resolutions on average, the 6 rolls 5 times and the 7 rolls 6 times. Five wins at $7 is $35. Six losses at $6 is $36. You're down $1 on $66 wagered, and 1 divided by 66 is 1.52%. Now the 4: over 9 resolutions it rolls 3 times and the 7 rolls 6. Three wins at $9 is $27; six losses at $5 is $30. Down $3 on $45, which is 6.67%. Same method on the 5 gives $28 won against $30 lost over $50 wagered: 4.00%.

Those are edges per bet resolved; per roll they're lower, because a place bet sits through many rolls, but the ranking never changes. The house edge list shows both.

Why $6 on the 6 and 8, $5 everywhere else

The 6 and 8 pay 7 to 6, so the payout only comes out to a whole dollar when your bet is a multiple of $6. Place the 6 for $6 and a hit pays $7. Place it for $12 and a hit pays $14. Place it for $30 and it pays $35.

Now put $5 on the 6 instead. Seven-sixths of $5 is $5.83. Casinos, and PointPuck, floor payouts to the whole dollar. Your $5 place bet on the 6 pays $5, not $5.83, and that missing 83 cents is pure loss. You've turned a 1.52% bet into something closer to the Big 6, which is exactly the tourist trap the rest of the table is laughing at. Always bet the 6 and 8 in $6 units.

The 4, 5, 9, and 10 pay in fifths (9 to 5 and 7 to 5), so $5 units pay out evenly: $5 on the 4 pays $9, $5 on the 5 pays $7, $10 on the 9 pays $14, $10 on the 10 pays $18. If you drop $6 on the 9 you get 7 to 5 on $6, which is $8.40 floored to $8, and again you've donated the change.

Simple rule: sixes on the 6 and 8, fives everywhere else, and press in those same units.

Press, same bet, take it down

When a place bet hits, the dealer pays you and asks what you want to do. Three standard answers cover it, and PointPuck's chips behave the same way.

• Same bet means take the winnings, leave the original bet where it is. Your $6 on the 8 hits, you pocket $7, the $6 keeps working.
• Press means use the winnings to increase the bet. Your $6 on the 8 hits for $7. You press it to $12, so the dealer adds $6 of your $7 winnings to the bet and hands you $1 back. A full press doubles the bet; some players press by one unit at a time.
• Take it down means remove the bet entirely. The dealer returns your chips. Unlike a pass line bet, you can do this at any time, including the moment after a hit.

Pressing is where place bets get their reputation for big swings. Press the 6 from $6 to $12 to $24 to $48 and one hot shooter turns $6 into a stack. But every press is another bet at the same 1.52%, and the 7 eventually takes whatever is standing. Pressing changes variance, not the edge. Set a rule before you start (press once, then same bet) and stick to it; see bankroll management.

$32 across, $22 inside, $20 outside

These are dealer shorthand for spreading place bets over several numbers at once, and PointPuck has one-tap buttons for each. The amounts assume $5 and $6 units.

The inside numbers are 5, 6, 8, and 9, the four most frequent points. The outside numbers are 4, 5, 9, and 10. Across is all six. If the shooter's point is one of the numbers you're covering, the dealer will usually skip it, so “$27 across” with the point on 5 or “$26 across” with the point on 6 are common calls too.

A quick honesty check on $22 inside. You've got 18 of the 36 combinations paying you $7 and 6 of them costing you all $22. You win something half the time, which feels wonderful, but one 7 wipes out three hits and change. Inside is the best of the three spreads because it leans on the 6 and 8. Outside is the worst because it leans on the 4 and 10 at 6.67%.

Place bets versus the pass line with odds

Here's the comparison people argue about. Say you like the 6. You could place it for $6 at 1.52%. Or you could bet $5 on the pass line, hope the point lands on 6, and take $25 in free odds at zero edge behind it.

The pass line with 3-4-5x odds runs at about 0.37% on the combined money. That's roughly a quarter of the place 6's edge, and the place 6 is the best place bet there is. Against the place 5 or 9 (4.00%) or the 4 or 10 (6.67%), it isn't close. On pure price, pass line and odds wins every time, and so does a come bet with odds, which is the same bet started mid-hand.

What you give up is choice and control. The pass line sends you to whatever point the dice pick; a place bet goes exactly where you want it, right now. A place bet can be taken down between rolls; odds can be taken down too, but the flat pass line bet is stuck. And a place bet pays more per hit on the same money because there's no flat bet dragging the payout down.

The sensible middle ground most experienced players land on: pass line with full odds as the foundation, and place bets only on the 6 and 8, in $6 units, when you want more action. Skip placing the 4, 5, 9, and 10. If you want those numbers and can bet $20 at a time, buy them instead: on PointPuck's rules that cuts the 4 and 10 from 6.67% to 1.67% and the 5 and 9 from 4.00% to 2.00%. Below $20 the minimum $1 commission wipes out the gain, so a $5 bet on the 5 or 9 stays a place bet.