Casino Gambling Odds
Every single casino makes money by introducing a built-in advantage for the house to every single game. This advantage isn’t very high, as it has to strike a balance between allowing the players to win satisfying payouts, and providing the casino with the means of actually turning a profit. In most online casino games the house edge is lower than 10%, which means that your odds of you winning a single, safe bet are usually fairly close to (though always below) 50%.
However, it’s worth remembering that the goal of the casino isn’t to beat every single player every single time – the odds are actually close enough to make everything possible in short-term play. The games are almost even, but since the casino deals with thousands of customers who play millions of rounds over prolonged periods of time, the laws of probability allow it to turn this miniscule edge into absolutely massive profits.
From a player’s perspective this means that the longer you play, the less likely you are to profit. If you become a regular and the number of bets you’ve placed starts approaching 100,000, your results are more than likely to reflect the house edge.
Short-Term Play
As you have probably already guessed, one of the best ways of “cheating” the house edge is to minimize the number of bets you place and give variance a chance to work for you. Quite obviously, if a game has a house edge of 0.5% and you place a double-or-nothing $500 bet, you won’t lose $2.5. You either lose $500, or you walk away with $1,000 – and since your odds are equal to 49.5%, you can assume that the entire wager is very similar to a coin flip.
You should keep in mind that the size of the bet is pretty much irrelevant here – it’s the limited number of wagers that maximizes the impact of variance and your chances of turning profit by the end of the day. The only factor determining the size of your bets should be the amount of money you’re willing to lose when playing the games. If you care about winning, you should definitely consider quitting while you’re ahead (if you ever get there) – the odds are stacked against you, so the longer you keep playing, the less likely you are to become a winner.
The Grind
It’s important to remember that the house edge applies to the amount of money you bet, not the amount of money you deposited to your casino account. Many players don’t realize that and end up wondering how could they have lost their entire bankroll in games with comparatively low house edge, such as Online Roulette or Blackjack. If you play long enough, the size of all your wagers combined will almost always exceed the funds that you brought to the table.
In fact, the amount of money you bet every hour will likely be higher than the amount you decided to invest into that gaming session, which means that the expected losses will eventually exceed your stash. This phenomenon is known as the grind and it’s basically guaranteed to whittle your funds away if you keep placing bets. The only way to limit the effects of the grind is to play the games with the lowest house edge, and limit the number of bets that you place per hour to the absolute acceptable minimum.
The Games With The Best Gambling Odds
It’s important to remember that the house edge tends to differ from game to game. Generally speaking, skill-based games such as Blackjack, Craps online, or even Video Poker give you the highest odds, as the house edge can be as low as 1% if you play properly.
However, please note that learning how to maximize your odds in such games requires a lot of effort. Most players don’t utilize their full potential and make many mistakes, which means that the house advantage is equal to 2% or more. In the case of traditional slot machines or progressive jackpots slots, the house edge is usually close to 10% and may go as high as 15%-17% in the most severe cases.
Another thing you should keep in mind is that the games that offer the biggest jackpot payouts are also the games that have the highest house edge. Contrary to popular belief, slots are some of the worst casino games you could ever play, at least from a mathematical standpoint – the effect of the grind is simply tremendous due to the lower odds of winning, while the frenetic pacing of the games increases the number of rounds played per hour and decreases your chances of pulling ahead due to variance.
In fact, even the jackpots usually aren’t worth it, as the chances of winning them are usually even lower than the chances of winning a similar amount of money by making consecutive double-or-nothing bets in a game like Blackjack or Roulette.
The Risk of Ruin
Regardless of the betting system you use, you have to keep in mind that believing in variance and going for risky, all-or-nothing bets does more than increasing your chances of turning a profit – it also increases your chance of ruin. Maximizing your short-term odds by adjusting the size of your wagers might not be the best idea if you’re a recreational player. If you care more about having fun at the table and engaging in a long gambling session, you should definitely consider playing in an extremely conservative manner: placing small bets and keeping it slow.
As you’d expect, the house edge will undoubtedly take its toll, but in the end you’ll be paying a few dollars per hour in return for quality casino entertainment even if you opt to go for the more expensive Live Dealer casino games. In fact, if you’re careful about the bets you place, playing online casino games can be way cheaper than spending a night out at the movies. In the end, the strategy you assume should be determined by your expectations and the funds at your disposal, as the house edge will always remain the same.
