What is a Lay Bet in Craps?
A lay bet in Craps is a wager that a 7 will roll before a chosen point number does. You’re betting against the shooter, which is the opposite of what most of the table is doing.
That’s unusual enough to make it the most misunderstood bet on the felt. While everyone else cheers for the point, you’re quietly backing the 7 to end the run.
What This Guide Covers
What a lay bet actually is, how the payouts and the commission work, the two different ways casinos charge that commission and what each one costs you, which numbers are worth laying, and how the bet compares with the other ways of betting the dark side. The arithmetic is all shown, because on this bet the arithmetic is the whole story.
Lay Bet in Craps – The Basics
A lay bet is a straightforward wager: you are betting that a specific number won’t roll before a 7 does. If the point is 4 and you lay the 4, you win when the next 7 arrives before another 4.
Think of it as the mirror of a place bet. A place bet wants the number to hit first; a lay bet wants the 7 first. You can only make one after the point is established on the come-out roll.
It Is Not a Side Bet
This isn’t a novelty wager tucked in the middle of the layout with the hardways and the horn. It’s an odds-driven bet with a low house edge, and it gives you a way to play when the table has gone quiet without committing to a don’t pass line for the whole sequence.
How Does a Lay Bet Work in Craps?
Say the shooter rolls a 5. That becomes the point. You lay the 5, which means you are betting a 7 arrives before another 5. You can lay any of the six point numbers: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10.
Two outcomes, and nothing else matters:
- 7 rolls first. You win.
- The number rolls first. You lose.
Why the 7 Is the Favourite
This isn’t a feeling about the dice, it’s a count of the combinations. There’re six ways to roll a 7 with two dice: 1-6, 2-5, 3-4 and each of those reversed. Compare that with the point numbers.
| Number | Ways to roll it | 7 rolls first, roughly |
|---|---|---|
| 4 or 10 | 3 | 2 times in 3 |
| 5 or 9 | 4 | 3 times in 5 |
| 6 or 8 | 5 | 6 times in 11 |
How You Actually Make the Bet
You can’t place a lay bet yourself. There is no marked box for it within reach, so this is a dealer-placed wager. Put your chips down on the layout in front of you, get the dealer’s attention, and say what you want out loud: lay the 10 for forty. The dealer sets it in the don’t come box above the number, with a small marker showing it’s a lay rather than a place bet.
Say the number and the amount, not just the amount. Craps tables are loud and dealers work fast, and a bet that gets set the wrong way round is on the opposite side of the odds from the one you meant to make.
You Risk More Than You Win
Because the 7 is the favorite, the payout has to be smaller than the stake. That isn’t the casino taking something from you, it’s what a fair price looks like when you’re on the right side of the odds. The casino takes its cut separately, through the commission, and that’s the part worth understanding properly.
Payouts, Odds, and the House Edge on Lay Bets
Lay bets pay true odds, which is rare on a Craps table. The casino does not take its margin out of the payout, it charges a separate 5% commission on the amount you stand to win. That commission is called the vig, short for vigorish.
When the Casino Collects the Vig Changes Everything
Here’s the part most guides skip, and it matters more than which number you pick. Some casinos take the vig only when your bet wins. Others take it up front, on every bet, whether it wins or not. Same bet, same payout, noticeably different cost.
| Lay against | Payout odds | House edge, vig on wins only | House edge, vig on every bet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 or 10 | 1:2 | 1.67% | 2.44% |
| 5 or 9 | 2:3 | 2.00% | 3.23% |
| 6 or 8 | 5:6 | 2.27% | 4.00% |
So the same wager on the 6 or 8 costs you 2.27% at one table and 4.00% at the next. Ask the dealer which way the house collects before you put chips down. It’s a normal question and it’s the single most valuable thing you can ask at a Craps table.
A Worked Example
To win $30 laying the 4 you put out $60, plus a $1.50 commission, because 5% of $30 is $1.50. If the house collects only on a win, your net win is $28.50 and you keep the $1.50 when you lose. If it collects up front, you are down $1.50 every single time you make the bet.
Some tables advertise no-vig lay bets on the 6 and 8. They’re not free; the cost is usually baked into slightly worse payout odds. It can still be a reasonable trade if you would rather not track small commissions all night.
Craps Lay Bet Calculator – Should You Use One?
A lay bet calculator is genuinely useful, particularly early on. You tell it how much you want to win, or how much you’re willing to risk, pick the number, and it gives you the stake and the commission.
Two Examples
- To win $30 laying the 4: bet $60, commission $1.50.
- Laying $30 on the 6: you win $25, commission $1.25.
The Arithmetic Behind It
Lay $60 on the 4 to win $30, with the vig taken only on a win. Your net win is $28.50. The 7 beats the 4 two times in three, so your expectation is two thirds of a $28.50 win against one third of a $60 loss, which comes to minus $1 for every $60 you put at risk. That is the 1.67% in the table above, and it’s where the number comes from rather than something you’ve to take on trust.
Run the same sum with the vig collected up front and the expectation is minus $1.50 on $61.50 staked, which is 2.44%. Nothing about the bet changed except when the house took its cut.
What a Calculator Will Not Do
It won’t tell you whether to make the bet. It sizes it. The decision about whether laying a number fits what you’re doing at that table is still yours, and the next section is about that.
When to Use a Lay Bet (and When to Skip It)
When a Lay Bet Makes Sense
- When the point is 4 or 10. Those are the hardest numbers to hit and the cheapest to lay, in both commission structures.
- When you are hedging a position you already hold on the other side of the table.
- When you want to take a contrarian position on one number without committing to a don’t pass line for the whole sequence.
- When you can find a table that takes the vig only on wins, which is worth more than any choice you make about which number to lay.
When to Leave It Alone
- When you would be laying the 6 or 8. It’s the most expensive version of this bet and it can cost twice what laying the 4 does.
- When you’re short-stacked. A lay bet ties up two or three times your target win, so it eats a small bankroll faster than the house edge suggests.
- When the table is crowded and you would rather not explain yourself. Betting against the shooter is legal, normal and unpopular.
One Reason That Is Not a Reason
You will hear that a table which has gone a long time without a 7 is due one. It’s not. The dice have no memory, every roll is independent, and a shooter who has held the dice for twenty minutes is exactly as likely to seven out on the next roll as one who just picked them up. If a run of numbers makes you want to lay something, that’s a feeling rather than an edge. The edge on this bet comes from the commission structure and the number you choose, and nowhere else.
Is a Lay Bet in Craps Good Strategy?
On the maths, it holds up well. Lay bets pay true odds, the house edge is low by Craps standards, and you can take them down at any time, which a don’t pass bet doesn’t let you do once the point is set.
Lay Bets Against Buy Bets
A buy bet is the same idea pointed the other way: you pay a 5% commission for true odds that the number arrives before the 7. The commission works identically, and the same question about when the house collects applies. If you like the dark side, the lay bet is the version of that trade that’s on the right side of the odds.
Lay Bets Against Don’t Pass With Odds
This is the comparison that matters and it does not flatter the lay bet. Free odds behind a don’t pass line carry no house edge at all, which is better than anything a lay bet can offer. What a don’t pass position can’t do is let you pick your number, or come and go between rolls. So the lay bet buys you flexibility, and you pay the commission for it.
The Short Answer
Used on the 4 or 10, at a table that takes the vig only on wins, a lay bet is one of the better wagers available in a casino. Used on the 6 or 8 at a table that charges up front, it’s nearly twice as expensive and there’re better things to do with the money. The bet isn’t good or bad; the version of it you are offered is.
FAQ
What’s the minimum lay bet amount in Craps?
Casinos usually want you to lay enough to win the table minimum. To win $10 laying the 4 or 10 you put out $20, plus a 5% commission on the win amount, which is another $0.50 and takes your total risk to $20.50. On the 6 or 8, where the odds are 5:6, you would lay $12 to win $10, plus the same $0.50 vig, for $12.50. Round to whatever increment the table accepts.
Can you remove a lay bet after placing it?
Yes, and it’s one of the real advantages of the bet. Unlike a don’t pass or don’t come wager you’re never locked in. Ask the dealer to take it down at any point before the dice land, whether the table has heated up or you have simply changed your mind.
Why do lay bets pay less than they risk?
Because you’re on the favoured side. There’re six ways to roll a 7 and only three ways to roll a 4, so a payout smaller than the stake is what a fair price looks like. The casino makes its money separately, through the 5% commission.
Are lay bets better than pass line bets?
They answer different questions. A pass line bet is simple, social and can be backed with free odds that carry no house edge at all, which is better value than any lay bet. A lay bet is contrarian and flexible: you choose the number, size it yourself and can take it down whenever you want.
Do casinos allow lay bets on all tables?
Most full-size Craps tables do. Smaller electronic and budget tables sometimes cut the layout back, so lay bets aren’t always offered. Worth checking before you plan a session around them.
Is a lay bet better with the vig on wins only?
Much better. Laying the 4 or 10 costs 1.67% when the house takes the commission only on a winning bet, and 2.44% when it takes it up front on every bet. On the 6 or 8 the gap is wider still, 2.27% against 4.00%. Ask which way the table collects.
Which number is best to lay in craps?
The 4 or the 10. They are the hardest numbers for the shooter to repeat, so the 7 beats them two times in three, and they carry the lowest house edge of any lay bet. The 6 and 8 are the worst, costing up to 4.00%.
Is a table that has not rolled a 7 due one?
No. Every roll is independent and the dice have no memory. A shooter twenty minutes into a hand is exactly as likely to seven out on the next roll as one who has just started. Nothing in a run of previous rolls changes the odds on the next one.
Written by
Fact-checked by
