Alan--I have to disagree with you that the true best bet in craps is pass or come. With respect to the house advantage (H-A), the H-A on a pass or come bet is 1.41%. The H-A if you place the 6 or 8 is only .46%.

Of course, you lower the H-A when you take odds on the pass or come as the H-A is leveraged down by the odds which have no H-A. So the more odds you take, the lower the H-A on the pass or come.

Now I have long taken Danny's position that you are better off placing the bet rather than betting pass or come, unless or until you start taking large odds. If you just take double odds, then as Danny says, the payoffs are the same or better by placing the bet.

For example:

$15 place on the nine will pay $21.
$5 pass with 10 odds on the 9 will pay 20.

Now, in Illinois-Indiana, we have 100x odds and I will use them if the game is good. So a $5 pass with 100 odds on the 9 will pay $155, while placing the 9 for 105 will pay 145. Now, the pass with odds is better.

The best strategy, in my opinion, is to start out placing until you are in a position to take large odds. Then, if the casino allows, use "put"bets rather than pass or come and leave them up when they hit. This way, you don't just get paid every other like you do with come bets.

There are other factors. One important one to consider is that many casinos do not count the odds bet when rating your play. In that case, it is far better to place your bets as the comps etc will be far greater. In my case, my initial bet is around $450 to $550. If 90% of that was from odds, my comps would be nothing at a casino where odds are not counted. However if that same amount is instead placed, I am now a hi roller. Big difference to consider.