Buying Place Bets in Craps

Countless players ask about the BUY lammer. The ON and OFF lammers are self-explanatory on bets, but what is the BUY? Buy Bets are Place Bets that pay True Odds because you paid a commission.

Once your bet gets high enough, the dealers will BUY the bet for you. Like Place Bets, your BUY must be rolled before a 7 to win. If a 7 is rolled before the Place Bet you bought, then it loses.

* All bets have a 5% commission fee

• $1 commission for each $20 of the bet

• People usually only buy the 4 and 10

• Buy bets are not contract bets

• Vigorish, Vig, Juice are other ways to say commission 

What Is the 5% Commission on Buy Bets in Craps?

The commission is money you pay to get paid True Odds on your Place Bets. True Odds are what a bet is supposed to get paid, a bet with no advantage for the casino.  You must pay a 5% Commission on the cost of the bet. For every $20 you bet, you must pay $1 commission. If you bet $21, $22, $23… all the way up to $39, it would still cost $1. Once you get to $40, it would cost $2.

How Do You Bet the Buy Bet in a Craps Game?

Normally, when your bet gets to an amount that requires you to BUY it, the dealer will tell you to drop the required commission amount. You don't need to worry about doing the math. The dealer will do it for you, and all you need to do is make sure the dealer knows how much money you want and where. 

When you make a Buy bet, you put your money in the COME and tell the dealer you want to "Buy" whichever Point it is. You would also add in the commission to the bet. E.g., If you wanted to buy the 4 for $20, you would put the bet plus commission into the COME, then tell the dealer, "I would like to 'buy' the 4 for $20."

Where Is Your Buy Bet on the Craps Table?

Buy Bets are relative to your spot in the rail and get put on the inside of the box to differentiate it from a Place bet. The Basedealer will also put a BUY lammer on it to signify it has been bought. Check out Place Bets to see how your money in the rail is relative to your bets on the layout. 

What Does a Buy Bet Pay in Craps?

Like many other bets on the table, you must bet Place Bets in certain increments, and they pay differently depending on which number you’re betting. Once a Buy bet wins, you must pay the same commission to keep the bet up to win again. If you decide to take your Buy Bet down after it wins, you won’t need to pay commission a second time.

Buying the 5, 6, 8, and 9

The difference from Place bet odds to true odds when buying the 5, 6, 8, or 9 are so small that the 5% commission you are paying could lose you money. Seasoned players will only buy the 4 or 10.

Buying the 4, and 10

Buying the 4 or 10 is worth the cost of commission. $20 Buy on the 10 nets you $40 instead of $36. You get 4:1 on that dollar but must still pay another $1 vig to keep it up to win again. When you want to Buy the 4 and 10 simultaneously, the dealer will add up the total of the two bets to determine the commission. E.g., If you wanted to buy the 4 and 10 for $50 each, you would think, “I need to pay $2 for the 4 and another $2 for the 10”, but you don’t think of them as separate bets. You have a total of $100 in action, which is $5 commission.

Buying the 4 and 10 for $35

In this example, you Buy the 10 for $35 + $1 in commission. When it hits, it pays 2:1 or $70, but you must pay the $1 commission again.

Buy the 10 for $75

In this example, you decide to Buy the 10 for $75, which is $3 vig. It wins $150 instead of $135 but would have to pay another $3 to keep the buy up to win again.

Buy the 4 and 10 for $75 Each

When you want to buy the 4 and 10 simultaneously, you add up the total of the two bets and determine the commission that way. Here you buy the 4 and 10 for $75 each for a total of $150. You wouldn’t pay $3 for the 4 and $3 for the 10 for a $6 commission total. Your total action is $150 for a commission cost of $7.