Real money casinos allow you to maximize an understanding of basic casino math in a way that will allow you to increase your casino wins. If you’re focused on achieving winning payouts from your gaming activities, it’s a good idea to know these principles.
Casino Math isn’t hard – it involves concepts that translate into probabilities for winning each play, the values that you can expect and the house edges that are associated with different games.
Understanding casino math doesn’t require a deep understanding of anything other than basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. If you want to approach your gambling activities with a more analytical mindset, check out some of the most important casino mathematical principles that apply to all games.
Understanding Math
The math that underlies odds and gambling is an important element in determining whether or not you should pursue a wager.
There are three types of odds -- fractional, decimal, and American (also known as “Moneyline” odds. Each type of odds involves a different presentation of probabilities. The odds are represented by an implied probability. When you know the implied probability of a bet, you will be better equipped to make your decision about whether or not to place a bet.
If you’re trying to decide whether an opportunity is worthwhile, you’ll need to assess whether or not a probability is higher than the implied probability. This is reflected by the odds.
It’s worthwhile to remember that the house’s profit margin is factored into the odds which means that the house’s probability of winning a bet is higher than yours.
Odds
It might seem that determining the odds of a game requires complicated calculations but you can organize the process easily by converting each different type of odds into its implied probability.
For instance, decimal odds represent the amount of money that you win for every $1 that you wager. For example, if a game pays out $300 for every $100 that you wager, the odds of that game are 3.00.
Fractional odds are noted as a ration or a fraction, i.e. five-to-one or 5/1. Fractional odds are also referred to as traditional odds or British odds.
Moneyline odds are displayed with a (+) plus or a (-) minus sign. Odds represented with a plus sign indicate a lower probability event with a higher payout while odds represented with a minus sign indicate a higher probability event with a lower payout.
If you want to convert one type of odds to another, there are online conversion tools that will do that for you. When you’re making your decision about whether or not to place a bet – and whether to bet high or low – you’ll want to look both at the odds of the bet succeeding (the ratio of the probability of an event happening to the probability of it not happening) and the probability (percentage) of success.
Understanding a game’s odds can help you because, by knowing the probability of winning versus the payout, you’ll be better able to determine whether a bet is worth taking.
House Edge
The house edge is the mathematical advantage that a casino has over players in any given game. It is usually expressed as a percentage of the player's bet.
For example, if a casino game has a house edge of 5%, it means that, on average, the casino retains 5% of all bets in the long run. You can’t beat the house edge because it’s built into the game but if you play for shorter periods of time, you can minimize the amount of money that’s exposed to the house edge.
The longer you play, the closer the expected loss approaches the theoretical outcome as dictated by the house edge. By limiting your gaming time to short sessions you might achieve a higher percentage of wins because less time will have passed for the house edge to do its work.
Volatility
A game’s volatility determines the payout structure. One of the elements of your decision of which game to play might include the game’s volatility – the degree of risk associated with a particular bet or game. With casino games, the game’s volatility influences how often you win, the size of the wins and the overall experience of the game.
High volatility games deliver larger payouts but the payouts come less frequently. So you may experience a long stretch without a significant win, though when you do win, it’s usually substantial. Low volatility games offer smaller, more frequent wins where you might see more regular – but smaller – payouts.
If you prefer a gaming experience where you enjoy a steady stream of smaller wins, you would probably choose low volatility games. If you’re looking for large payouts along with more of an element of risk on larger bets, you’d probably go with a high volatility game.
It’s also worth noting that, playing a high volatility game will require a larger bankroll so you can keep moving past the frequent losses to get to the big wins. By understanding volatility you can better manage your bankroll and set more realistic expectations for your gambling adventure.
Types of Games
In general, you can expect
- randomized outcomes with fixed odds and varying house edges with slots
- the ability to affect the game outcome and the odds by your decisions with table games like roulette and blackjack
- a gaming experience where odds and probability aren’t as important as player skill when playing poker.
Best Odds
Blackjack has the most favorable odds for players who understand basic blackjack strategy. The house edge is relatively low and is determined by the player’s skill level, the number of decks used and the rules of the variation that you’re playing.
Games with a high house edge include keno and slot machines.
Choose your game according to your preferences to truly optimize your casino event!
