Buying and Laying Numbers

Buying a number is similar to placing a number to win, whereas laying a number is similar to placing a number to lose. When you buy a number, you win if your number is rolled before a 7 and lose otherwise; if you lay a number, you win if a 7 is rolled before your number and lose if your number comes up before a 7.

But there are two crucial differences between buying or laying numbers and placing numbers to win or lose:

Payout: The payout when you buy or lay a number is better than if you place a number.
Commission: You are charged a 5% commission on buy bets. In other words, for every $20.00 you spend to buy a number, the casino charges a $1.00 commission. Since most casinos round the commission up, make your buy bets in multiples of $20.00.

How to Buy or Lay a Number

Buying and laying numbers uses the same part of the board as placing numbers.

To buy a number: Tell the dealer which number you want to buy, then place your chips on the table. The dealer will move your chips to the appropriate number on the layout and place a small “Buy” marker on top.
To lay a number: Tell the dealer which number you want to lay, then place your chips on the table. The dealer will move your chips to the small square above the appropriate number on the layout.

Payouts, Commissions, and the House Edge

Most casinos charge the 5% commission whether or not your buy or lay bet comes up a winner. However, a few charge a commission only for winning buy or lay bets. The latter practice lowers the house edge. The following tables show the payouts for buy and lay bets, as well as the house edge both when the casino follows standard practice (always charges commissions) and when the casino charges commissions only on winning bets.