To lay odds to someone, in gambling parlance, is the opposite of getting odds from someone. In poker this means that to lay odds is to offer them to another player. In particular, the word is used to describe what a player does when they make a bet intending to control the pot odds their opponents would receive if they called. The common phrase is that the player is "laying their opponents 2 to 1 odds", or something similar.
The general rule of thumb for calling is that if the pot odds you are being laid exceed the odds of you making a winning hand, you should call (or raise!).