Several times when five of the six points in the Fire Bet have been made a player will lay (bet against) the remaining point. Let's say the shooter has made the 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9 for five of the points in the Fire Bet and now needs only a ten. On the next come out roll he hits the ten to set it as his point. Now, if he makes the point the Fire Bet will pay 1000 to 1. At this time some players on the Fire Bet might lay the ten (a bet that the 10 won't be hit) to hedge the Fire Bet losing.
Personally I've never bet against the point to hedge my Fire Bet. I want the sixth point to hit and I want all the money. (Only three times have I been at a table when all six points were hit for the Fire.) But some players will do this -- and they'll even do it when a fifth Fire Point is being worked.
The question can also be asked about the Small, Tall, All Bets. Let's say the only number left to hit is an 9 for a 35-to-1 payoff on the Tall and a 175-to-1 payoff on the All. Do you lay the 9? A lay bet on the 9 means a 7 will appear before the 9.
Again, I wouldn't hedge. I want all the fun and all the money. But I have missed that one remaining number several times -- when I rolled and when another shooter had the dice.
Sometimes the remaining number is a horn number -- a 2, 3, 11 or 12 and I've never heard of a casino allowing a No-2 or a No-3 or a No-11 or a No-12 bet. I guess you could hedge with an "Any 7" bet with only one number remaining to be hit, but that could become very expensive as the Any-7 is a one-roll bet and it loses if any of the other numbers are rolled, and not just the single number needed for the ALL payoff.
So craps players -- your opinions and strategies, please?