Pass/Come bets vs. Buy bet question.

I was just wondering if buying 4,5,9,10 is better than come bets with odds if vig is 5% on win only for buying numbers. Not sure how many places allow buy on points 5 and 9, but for sake of the question lets assume it is permitted.

Example for 4: Say I make a $10 come bet, which hits a 4, and I take 3x odds for $30 on it for a total of $40 on that number. I would stand to make a total of $70 if the point hits ($10+$60). But if I buy the 4 for $40 straight and the vig is on win only, which is a $2 commission, I stand to win $80 minus the $2 for a total of $78, which is $8 greater than the payout on the same amount of money in play in the come out.

Example for 5: Say I make a $10 come bet, which hits a 5, and I take 4x odds for $40 on it for a total of $50 on that number. I would stand to make a total of $70 if point hits ($10+$60). But if I buy the 5 for $50, I will stand to make $75 minus the $2 commission for a net of $73, which is $3 greater than the payout for the same amount of money on the come bet.

Now the difference between buying vs. come bet with odds is that the come bet has a chance to win on 7 or 11 on the come out roll, but it will also lose the bet on any crap roll. Another difference I would have the option to take the place bets down entirely, where as with the come bets I can only remove my odds and not the line bets.

So my question is it better to Buy these numbers than play the come bets?

edited addition: Unless if the odds is up to 100x for pass line and come bets... I am under the impression buying numbers is better.

I think you might want to account for the potential for the flat bet to win on that first roll.

Yea I included that potential of winning 1-1 on come out when a 7 or 11 is rolled, but it also has the potential to lose on any crap roll of 2,3,12. Is this advantage justified for 3x-4x-5x odds to make come bets vs. buy bets?

Quote: 5anta

Yea I included that potential of winning 1-1 on come out when a 7 or 11 is rolled, but it also has the potential to lose on any crap roll of 2,3,12. Is this advantage justified for 3x-4x-5x odds to make come bets vs. buy bets?

It is better to make a come bet with 3-4-5x's odds than buying the 4 or 10.........NOW...if you knew when you were placing a come bet that the next number rolled was gonna be a 4....THEN it would be better to buy the 4...BUT you dont know this you could roll a 6 or 8.....

Put it this way you would be better off placing a $20 come bet with NO odds...then buying the 4 for $20......Of course you would want to place odds, and you should!!.....House edge on a buy bet on the 4 or 10 is 1.67%...on the 5,9 its 2.0% on the 6,8 its 2.27%....this is with vig being paid on ONLY the win....if its paid always the house edge is 4.76%

The house edge on a come bet is 1.41%...the same as a pass line bet....and if you combine that with 3-4-5x's odds....the house edge drops to .374%

I know the come bet SEEMS counter productive, because if a 7 is rolled you win the come but lose your other bets....BUT if you take into account......the times you have $20 placed on the come vs $20 on a buy bet....when the 7 is rolled.....lets say 10 times over a the course of an hour that's a $400 dollar swing

Good explanation:

If you buy a 4 for $30 and pay $1 vig only on the win, you can expect to lose: $59 x 1/3 - 30 x 2/3 = -0.333333

If you place a come bet for $30 with no odds, you stand to lose about $0.424.

Buy only playing vig on win is better than come. Come with odds is very strong however.

Quote: boymimbo

Good explanation:

If you buy a 4 for $30 and pay $1 vig only on the win, you can expect to lose: $59 x 1/3 - 30 x 2/3 = -0.333333

If you place a come bet for $30 with no odds, you stand to lose about $0.424.

Buy only playing vig on win is better than come. Come with odds is very strong however.

Assuming he is buying the 4 for $30 and only paying $1 vig.......In most casinos you can do this....as they will round down.....true vig on $30 is $1.50

I don't have a problem with the buy on the 4 and 10 where you pay the vig only on the win. it's an excellent bet with a HA of slightly over 1%. If you're comfortable at the green level, then buying the 4 and 10 for $30 makes alot of sense (as does laying for $60).

The problem with come bets is that you really have to have faith that the number thrown is going to hit twice. Alot of people have difficulty with that belief and they place instead. And if you aren't disciplined with the come bet you can get alot of money out on the table quick, and it can disappear very quickly.

That is why some people do only PassLIne bets or they do PassLine plus one or two come bets but that is all. Emotionally it is great to have come bets all over the layout but when that Seven rears its ugly head, you lose it all.

Quote: boymimbo

I don't have a problem with the buy on the 4 and 10 where you pay the vig only on the win. it's an excellent bet with a HA of slightly over 1%. If you're comfortable at the green level, then buying the 4 and 10 for $30 makes alot of sense (as does laying for $60).

I agree here, and more to a point.
Buying the 4/5/9/10 for $30 (Pay $1 on the win only) isn't a bad bet at all.
I'm going to try this system, rather than play the pass point..
Here's what the numbers look like:
$5 with $15 4/10 gets you $35 total
$30 4/10 gets you $59 total ($60 -$1 vig)

$5 with $20 5/9 gets you $35 total
$30 5/9 gets you $44 total ($45 -$1 vig)

$5 with $25 6/8 gets you $35 total
$30 6/8 gets you $36 total (This one really is the same thing)