Buying Place Bets

The only bet you can Buy in Craps is a Place bet. You are paying a commission on the amount of the Place bet in order to get paid True Odds. Just like Place bets, the number you Buy must be rolled before a 7 in order to win. If a 7 is rolled before the number 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

Up close view of a $20 buy bet on the 10. The puck is on and on the point nine.

5% Commission on Buy Bets

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 to Bet a Buy Bet

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."

$21 in the COME with a sign saying to add commission to the bet when making the bet.

Placement of a Buy Bet

The Buy bet gets put on the inside of the box to differentiate it from a Place bet and will put a lammer that has BUY written on it to signify it has been bought.

The inside of point four box outlined orange and a $20 bet with a ‘buy’ lammer on it. A sign says ‘buy’s go inside the box.

What does a Place Bet Pay

Like a lot of 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 amount of commission in order to keep the bet up to win again. You don’t have to pay commission a second time if you decide to take the bet down.

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. $1 for a $20 Buy on the 10 nets you $40 instead of $36. You get 4:1 on that dollar but then must still pay another $1 vig to keep it up to win again. When you want to Buy the 4 and 10 at the same time, 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.

$35 buy on place bet 10. $70 cut out in the COME with $1 next to it used as payment for vig to stay up again.

Buy the 10 for $75

Here 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.

$75 buy on place bet 10. $150 cut out in the COME with $3 next to it used as payment for vig to stay up again.

Buy the 4 and 10 for $75 Each

When you want to buy the 4 and 10 at the same time 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 total of $6 commission. Your total action is $150 for a commission cost of $7.

$75 buy on each point 4 and 10. Sign says commission is $7 total for the $150 total action. $3 needed for vig if one wins.

Place Bet Basics

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