Place Bets And Pass/Come Bets: What'S The Same And What'S Different?

What is the difference between "Place" bets and the "Pass/Come" bets?

Well, Place bets can be made anytime, where Pass or Come bets can not. The flipside is this: the player can add odds to Pass or Come bets, but can not add odds to Place bets.

Let's briefly dissect this.

When we say you can make the Place bet "anytime," we mean that you can bet at any point during play that the 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 will roll before the seven. It is called a "Place" bet because what you do, in effect, is tell the dealer what your bet is, and he "places" the bet for you.

Another big difference is that unlike the Pass or Come bets, you can REMOVE Place bets at any time. This is a key, because it can allow the player to virtually pick up a bet and execute some other bet if he/she so chooses.

Obviously, these kinds of "privileges" come with a price. And yes, because of the flexibility afforded by the Place bet, these wagers pay off at less odds. Let's show this by way of example, with both fractional odds and odds relative to a dollar, for the various "points." The 4 or 10, with "true" odds of 2/1 (+200), pays just 9/5 (+180) on a Place bet. The 5 or 9, represented by odds of 3/2 (+150), pays just 7/5 (+140) on a Place bet. And the 6 or 8, which is 6/5 in true odds (+120), pays just 7/6 (+117) on the Place bet.

The mini-table below reflects the odds AGAINST the numbers being rolled, with the figure on the left the true odds against, and figure on the right the odds as reflected by the casino's Place bet payoff:

Number .... Odds Against 4 or 10 .... .667 -- .643 5 or 9 .... .6 -- .583 6 or 8 .... .545 -- .538

As can be seen, in the Place bet scenario, the player is getting paid at levels which are not reflective of what the true odds are.