House advantage in casinos

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by: david field
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Word Count: 423
Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2008 Time: 6:06 AM
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It is widely accepted that most casino games are simply due to chance and luck of the draw, but not many people are aware of the advantage that the 'house' (casino) holds over the player, hence making the game slightly unfair on any gambler. Casino games may offer the player a short-term advantage over the house, but is relying on the fact that the player will believe they have hit a run of good form and will continue to gamble, eventually handing the 'edge' back to the casino. Most casino games, such as roulette, craps and the slots, are random; but others, like blackjack, are called 'random with a tactical element', because the user has some control over the outcome. In these latter games, the user can take steps to minimise the house edge, giving them a greater chance of winning, but to completely shift the odds in favour of the player is virtually impossible.

The house edge comes about because of the fact that the casino does not pay out at true odds – that is, the payouts that should be given considering the chance of a certain outcome. For example, if the bet was on the outcome of a dice-throw, true odds payout would be 5x the original stake, as the odds of one number being thrown are 5 to 1. However, a casino may only pay out 4x the stake. Because the payout is still considerably higher than the stake, people do not question the odds.

The house edge is then expressed as a percentage of the player’s original bet, and here’s where it could get complicated. Let's take American roulette as an example, and the standard wheel of 36 numbers, zero and double-zero. If a player bets £1 on black, he has an 18/38 chance of winning, and a 20/38 chance of losing. The players expected value (EV) is [(18/38 x 1) + (20/38 x -1)] = -2/38 = -5.26%, and therefore the casinos house edge is 5.26%. In financial terms, after 10 rounds of play at $1 per play, the average house profit would be 10 x $1 x 5.26% = $0.53.

There are numerous ways that people have tried to reduce the house edge, or even turn it in their favour, such as card-counting in blackjack or through sophisticated electronic devices that map the spin of a roulette wheel. However, none have been very widely used due to the players getting caught more often than not. The growth in online casino websites has made gambling much more secure and less easy to cheat.

About the Author

If you want to play a variety of casino games, visit the online casino at littlewoodscasino.com.

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