The Difference Between Place and Buy in Craps

You’re standing at the craps table, chips in hand, and the shooter just set a point. You want action on the 4. You set your chips down, then pause. Should you place it or buy it? The dealer is waiting, and the shooter is ready to roll.

Most players at the table have been in that spot. The two bets sound almost the same, and the dealers move fast. So you go with whatever you said last time and hope it was right.

Learning the difference between place and buy in craps doesn’t take long. Keep reading, and the next time you reach for your chips, you’ll know which bet to call.

Craps Place vs Buy Bets: Side by Side

	Place Bet	Buy Bet
Wins when	Your number rolls before a 7	Your number rolls before a 7
Payout style	Less than true odds	True odds
Commission	None	5% of your bet
Pays on the 4 and 10	9 to 5	2 to 1
Pays on the 5 and 9	7 to 5	3 to 2
Pays on the 6 and 8	7 to 6	6 to 5
Best numbers for it	6 and 8	4 and 10

Craps Words You’ll Hear at the Table

A handful of terms do most of the work in this guide. Here is what each one means.

Term	What It Means
Vig	Short for vigorish. The casino’s commission on a buy bet, set at 5% of what you wager. It is the fee you pay in exchange for a true odds payout.
True odds	A payout that matches the real chance of the bet winning. A 4 rolls once for every two 7s, so true odds on the 4 pay 2 to 1.
House edge	The share of every bet the casino keeps over the long run, written as a percentage. Lower is better for you.
The point	The number the shooter establishes to open a round. The shooter keeps rolling until the point repeats or a 7 shows.
Come-out roll	The first roll of a new round, before a point is set.
Working	A bet that is live on the current roll. Place and buy bets are not working on the come-out unless you ask for them to be.
Unit	The increment you bet in. These bets pay in full only when your wager is a multiple of the right unit, which is $5 on some numbers and $6 on others.

What Is a Place Bet in Craps?

A place bet says one number will roll before a 7. You can pick the 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10. Set your chips in the come area and say what you want. “Place the six and eight” is all it takes, and the dealer moves your chips into the right boxes for you.

Your payout depends on the number. A placed 4 or 10 pays 9 to 5. The 5 and 9 pay 7 to 5, while the 6 and 8 pay 7 to 6.

Size your bets in these units:

• $5 units on the 4, 5, 9, and 10
• $6 units on the 6 and 8

Stick to those amounts, and you get paid in full, with nothing rounded off.

Your bet stays up after a win so that it can hit again on the next roll. You can ask the dealer to take it down whenever you like. Place bets are off on the come-out roll unless you call them on.

What Does Buy Mean in Craps?

Buying a number means you get paid at true odds instead of the short price a place bet pays. In exchange, the casino charges the vig, a commission worth 5% of your bet.

A craps buy bet wins and loses on the same rolls as a place bet. Only the payout and the fee change. A bought 4 or 10 pays 2 to 1, the 5 and 9 pay 3 to 2, and the 6 and 8 pay 6 to 5.

Say you buy the 4 for $60. The vig is $3, and a win pays you $120.

To make the bet, set your chips on the layout and say the amount, the word and the number together. “Twenty-five buy on the ten” tells the dealer everything they need. They mark the number with a small button so the box crew knows it is bought rather than placed.

Most rooms set a minimum on buy bets, and it usually sits above the table minimum. The reason is arithmetic. The vig has to round to whole dollars, so very small buys are not worth booking. Ask the dealer what the minimum is before you reach for your chips.

Casinos collect the vig in one of two ways. Some take it when you make the bet. Others take it only when you win, which is better for you. That timing is the single biggest variable in this guide, so ask your dealer which way your table handles it.

A buy bet can come down whenever you like, the same as a place bet. Whether the vig comes back with it is set by the house, so it is worth asking before you put the bet up.

The Difference Between Place and Buy in Craps, Explained

Craps place vs buy bets split on price, not on how they win.

Payout: House Odds vs. True Odds

A place bet pays you less than the number is worth. That shortfall is how the casino earns its edge. A buy bet pays the full amount the math says you should get. The casino earns its edge through the vig instead.

Put $40 on the 10 as a place bet, and a hit pays $72. Buy that same $40 and the 10 pays $80, minus a $2 vig. You keep $6 more every time it hits.

Cost: No Commission vs. 5% Vig

Placing a number costs nothing beyond your bet. Buying adds 5% of what you wager. On the 6 and 8, the fee exceeds the place bet’s built-in edge. On the 4 and 10, the fee costs less.

House Edge on Every Number

House edge is the share of each bet the casino keeps over the long run. The figures below assume the vig is paid when you make the bet.

Number	Place bet edge	Buy bet edge
4 and 10	6.67%	4.76%
5 and 9	4.00%	4.76%
6 and 8	1.52%	4.76%

The vig is 5% of your bet, so you might expect the buy edge to read 5%. It lands at 4.76% because the fee sits on top of the bet rather than inside it. Put $100 on a number, and you hand over $105, which makes the cost five dollars out of every 105 at risk.

Is It Better to Place or Buy in Craps?

It depends on the number. Let the house edge make the call for you.

The 4 and 10: Buy Them

Buying the 4 or 10 reduces the house edge from 6.67% to 4.76%. You also get paid 2 to 1 instead of 9 to 5. Of all six numbers, this is where a craps buy bet earns its keep.

If the house charges the vig only when you win, buying these two gets better still, dropping the edge to about 1.67%. That is still above the 1.52% you pay to place the 6 or 8, so buying the 4 and 10 is the right call on those two numbers rather than the best bet on the table.

The 5 and 9: It Depends on Your Bet Size

A place bet on the 5 or 9 carries a 4% edge. Buying with the vig paid upfront raises that to 4.76%, so placing wins on paper.

Bet size changes the answer. Many rooms round the vig down to the nearest dollar, which means a $25 buy costs $1 rather than $1.25. That drops the edge to 3.85% of what you put at risk, below the 4% a place bet charges on the same number. If you bet in $25 units and your room rounds down, buying the 5 and 9 is the better play.

Paying the vig only on wins is better again, at about 2%. Ask the dealer how your room handles the rounding and the timing before you decide.

The 6 and 8: Always Place Them

The 6 and 8 carry the lowest place edge on the layout, at 1.52%. Buying them costs 4.76%, about three times worse.

The dollars tell the same story. A $30 place bet on the 6 pays $35. Buy that same $30, and a win pays $36. After the $1.50 vig, you net $34.50. You collect less and pay a bigger edge for the privilege.

Frequently Asked Questions

What numbers should I place or buy on craps?

Place the 6 and 8, where the edge sits at just 1.52%. Buy the 4 and 10 to cut their edge from 6.67% to 4.76%. On the 5 and 9, it depends on your bet size and your room. Placing carries the lower edge at most sizes, but buying in $25 units beats it wherever the vig rounds down to a dollar.

How likely is it to roll a 7 in craps?

A 7 is the most common roll in craps. Six of the 36 dice combinations add up to 7, or about 16.67% of rolls. The 4 and 10 have only three combinations each. That’s why people who place and buy bets on those numbers lose more often than they win.

What not to do at a craps table?

A few habits will earn you a polite warning from the crew:

• Reaching into the number boxes, which belong to the dealers
• Handing cash straight to a dealer instead of setting it on the layout
• Saying “seven” out loud while the dice are live
• Leaving your hands in the landing area during a throw

Skip the high-edge proposition bets, and never chase your losses.

What are some effective strategies for playing craps?

No betting system beats the house edge. You can keep that edge low with a few habits:

• Play the pass or come line and take as many odds as the table allows
• Place the 6 and 8
• Buy the 4 and 10
• Set a loss limit before you sit down

New to the game? Learn how to play craps before you try these bets.

Is buying the 6 and 8 a good craps strategy?

True odds only help when the vig costs you less than a place bet would. On the 6 and 8, the vig costs more. Placing those two numbers gives you the lower house edge every time.

Place Smart, Buy Smart: Your Next Roll at Riverwind

The difference between place and buy in craps comes down to one question. What does each bet cost you on the number you want? Ask it every time you reach for your chips. Your calls at the Riverwind craps tables will come faster and feel a lot more sure.

The craps tables at Riverwind Casino are where your new game plan gets its first real test. Pick your numbers like a regular, and soak up the cheer when your point lands.