>>>So my simple question is...Why the free ride on my first 7 ???

The only explanation is that the casino screwed up. I've never heard of any casino allowing the come bets to be "off" on the come out.

BTW, you can "insure" the come bets by placing a couple bucks on the big red for the come out. Because of the house advantage on a single roll big red, some folks accomplish this by increasing their pass line bet.

The "book" says to let all come bet odds "work" on every roll making the discussion moot if you follow the "book"