Place Bet

A casino favorite, the place bet is very common at the craps table. Although the pass, don't pass, come and don't come bets with odds should be your regular bets, it would of course get a little boring only playing those few (hey, making you feel bored with the good bets is half of the casinos plan; they know everyone will throw some money away on the other options at some point). The only other place on the board you should consider putting your money is the place bet area.

You can make a place bet on any of the point numbers at any time; these include 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10. If your number comes up before a 7 you win, if a 7 comes up before your number, you lose. This has a classic ring to it, and kind of embodies the idea of playing around the dice. You make a place bet by putting chips on the table and then telling the dealer to 'place the 6' or whatever number you want to place. Don't move around too much when making a place bet, because the dealer puts your chips in position on the board to correspond with where you're standing around the table.

Part of the place bet's popularity comes from the fact that you can place the bet any time in the game, and you can bet on more than one number at a time. To take down your place bet you have to ask the dealer to 'take me down' and you'll get your bet returned, you can take your bet down at any time.

The odds on place bets are better for some numbers than others. You can work this out logically by knowing which numbers are more likely to come up, or glance at the chart below to see the exact house edge.

One thing in particular is noticeable: the only place bets worth anything are the 6 and 8, which you'll remember the casino tries to get you not to bet on by putting the "big 6 / big 8" options right in front of you. If you place, always place on 6 or 8, and never bet on big 6 or big 8.

See the Place Bet demonstrated here.

All bets:
Pass Line Bet | Pass line bet with odds | The field bet
The don't pass bet | The come bet | The don't come bet
The hard way bet | The place bet | Proposition bets | Big 6/big 8