Tag: house-edge

Sports Betting and House Edge

Sports Betting And House Edge With Money Blog

In a previous entry discussing the point spread, over/under and money line wagers at sports books, I mentioned that the house typically charges an extra 10 percent on point-spread and over/under bets. To win $10, you must bet $11.

Bettors are sometimes misled into thinking that gives the house a 10 percent edge, which would be very high casino standards.

Actually, the house edge is 4.55 percent. Here’s how it works:

Mississippi Stud House Edge and Risk Odds Explained

Players who try to sort good bets from the bad sometimes find difficulty with new games that involve more than one round of betting.

Those games have two figure that could fairly be categorized as house edges. A reader recently pointed out that wizardofodds.com lists a house edge of 4.91 percent for Mississippi Stud Poker, but also an element of risk of 1.37 percent.

How Does the Casino Get Its Edge?

I’m often asked, “How does the casino gets its edge,” and the basic answer always is, “By paying winners less than the true odds of winning.” Casinos take your full bet when you lose, but pay only a portion of the true odd when you win.

Why Does the House Have an Edge in Blackjack?

Earlier this year, I was asked to speak to a group of inexperienced players before their casino trip. One who had just started playing blackjack said he was confused over why the house had an edge. After all, the dealer is stuck hitting or standing according to set rules, while players can make decisions, and the dealer can’t double down, split pairs or get paid 3-2 on blackjacks.

How to Calculate House Edge in Roulette

A couple of months ago, I walked through the arithmetic for the house advantage on the pass line in craps.  It’s quite a lengthy calculation with a number of factors, but enough readers followed along that it brought a few questions. 

Tale At The Table

I’m always looking for tales of unusual things that happen in casinos. One came my way from a reader who wanted to share his experience with a big cash player.

 

How Does a Multi-Bet Format Affect the House Edge in Mississippi Stud?

Many poker-based table games involve an ante before you see your cards, and then a bet or multiple bets to keep playing. Caribbean Stud was the trend-setter, but we also see that format in Three Card Poker, Mississippi Stud and other games.

Electronic vs Live Table Games

Table games players have consistently shown a preference for live action. They like to play with real cards and dice and with human dealers.

Still, there has been an increasing acceptance of electronic table games, especially in roulette. Touch screens for electronic betting speed play as wagers are settled automatically, with no mistakes. There’s no down time waiting for dealers to pay winners and collect chips from losing bets.

Is It True Casinos Make Their Money From Winners?

It’s sometimes said that casinos make their money from winners. Of course, every time it’s said, there’s somebody who responds, “Then they should let everybody win and make even more money.”

Odds When Playing Roulette vs Slots

Players sometimes have difficulty with the idea that slot machine results can be programmed and random at the same time. So for many years, I’ve used a comparison to roulette, where you don’t know when any given number will turn up, but the odds of the game will lead to a 5.26 percent house edge – the same as a 94.74 percent payback percentage.

Video Poker Are The Odds Against You

Video poker games are designed to be as random as humans can program a computer to be. The odds of drawing winning hands are the same as cards were dealt from a real deck.

Still, when odd streaks happen, players can’t help but wonder if something more is going on.

How To Choose A Video Blackjack Machine

One thing I’ve warned blackjack players about is games that pay less than the standard 3-2 on blackjacks. If you play video blackjack, you have to be extra watchful, as one reader learned.

Should You Place A Fortune Bet In Pai Gow?

Pai-gow poker is known as an even-keel, extended play kind of game. The Fortune Pai-Gow side bet injects a little excitement for jackpot hunters, including a big payoff of 5,000-1 on a seven-card straight flush that does not include the joker. That’s about a 4.8 million-to-1 shot, but hey, we can dream.

Is The House Edge Lower In Baccarat?

On most casino games, the house wins more often than the player, and it’s easy for the casino to get an edge on the game. All it has to do is pay players less than the true odds of winning the bet, and random results will lead to profit for the house.

Are Progressive Jackpots A Better Bet in Video Poker?

Video poker players in the know understand that on most games, payback percentages are changed by altering the returns on full houses and flushes. A “9-6” Jacks or Better game, where full houses pay 9-for-1 and flushes 6-for-1, returns 99.5 percent with expert play. If instead you see 8-5 Jacks or Better, meaning full houses pay 8-for-1 and flushes 5-for-1, then the average return is 97.3 percent with expert play.

However, when progressive jackpots are involved, even a game with a lower pay table can have high average returns.

How To Bet In Craps For Higher Wins

Craps presents so many possibilities that players are continually exploring combinations seeing if they can find a magic formula for profit. One player asked me recently if he could combine place bets with hard ways for some giant-sized wins.

Hot Streaks, Are They For Real?

Not long ago, I received a note via email from a craps player who was taken aback when a shooter rolled five sevens in a row. “It would seem to me there has to be a makeup time to get the odds to come out right,” he wrote. “What’s the hidden factor that balances those five 7s in a row?”

Video Poker: Chance vs. Skill

Video poker is a game that mixes pure chance with a dose of skill. You don’t know which cards are going to dealt, but you need to know which ones to hold to have a fighting chance to win.

21+3 Side Bet in Blackjack

Side bets at blackjack come and side bets at blackjack go. Mostly they go when players discover their money is disappearing a little too rapidly. One that’s lasted, though, is 21+3, which combine blackjack with a three-card poker hand.

Betting Ties in Baccarat

Baccarat offers players two of the best percentage bets among casino games, with house edges of 1.06 percent on banker and 1.24 percent on player. It also offers one of the worst bets in the house. If you chase the 8-1 payoff and bet on ties, you spot the casino a whopping 14.4 percent. The house keeps $1.06 per $100 wagered on banker and $1.24 on player. Then the house take soars to just over $14.35 on ties.

Can Enough Free Odds Eliminate the House Edge at Craps?

Those who are serious about craps probably have looked at charts detailing the house edge on the pass line as the amount of free odds permitted increases. With no odds bet, the house has a 1.41 percent edge on pass. That drops to 0.8 percent with single odds, 0.6 percent with double odds, on down to 0.3 percent at 5x odds, 0.2 percent at 10x and a miniscule 0.02 percent at 100x odds.