How to Calculate Odds for Various Casino Games

Heading out to a casino to have some fun? Why not try to calculate the odds for various casino games beforehand? Doing so could help you return home with more money in your pockets.

Gambling at casinos, whether they’re online or they’re the traditional brick and mortar type of building is meant to be fun, but it’s also meant to bring in big profits for those who run these types of businesses. While you might think of gambling as entertainment, something different to do while you’re on vacation, every casino is a business, and like any business, it’s expected to make a profit. For every game that’s offered, whether it’s Roulette, Blackjack or even Keno, casino owners have already calculated the odds for winning at these various casino games.

Are the odds ever in favor of the player? They can be, otherwise people would have stopped frequenting these types of venues long ago. Gambling is one of the biggest money-making businesses around. Consumers (a.k.a. those who gamble) have to feel as it they actually have a chance at winning so that they’ll willingly come back time and again and put their money at risk.

Casinos can calculate the odds for many of the various casino games they offer including Roulette, Craps, Baccarat, Keno, Caribbean Stud, Let it Ride, and Big Six Wheel. These calculations are based on the laws of probability. If you win the same amount as the amount wagered, it’s considered “true odds.” If you win a different amount than the amount wagered, that is considered the “house edge.” The difference between what the casino pays when you win and the true odds is the way that the house edge (also called the casino advantage) is determined. This calculation is the built-in profit of every game played and is less than the true odds. To reduce your risk, it helps to understand how to calculate the odds for various casino games.

Take Roulette for example. It’s played using a wheel that has 36 numbers and 2 additional numbers, 0 and 00. In Roulette, your chance of winning will always be one out of 38 or 1/38. When you win, the casino pays 35 for every dollar you bet. Your original dollar plus the 35 won equals 36. Subtract 36 from the 38 and you’re left with 2. To determine the true odds, divide 2 by 38. In this case, it works out to a house edge of 5.26%. Games like Roulette, where the odds are fixed because the outcome never changes, work out to be good odds for the house, but not necessarily for the player. That’s because even if a player covers all 38 numbers, he can still lose.

To calculate the true odds of a casino game such as craps, it’s important to first understand the dice. Each die consists of six sides, and each side has a certain number of pips, or dots that represent numbers: one pip, number one; five pips, number 5, etc. Craps is played using two dice that are exactly the same. There are 36 possible number combinations when using two dice (6 on one die times 6 on the other die) and the totals range fro 2 (1+1) to 12 (6+6). Again, craps is a game where the outcome will never change because it’s always going to be based on these 6 numbers and their possible combinations.

Next understand how many ways there are to create each number. For example, there is only one way to create the numbers 2 and 12 and that is by each die rolling one pip (1+1=2) or 6 pips (6+6=12). No other combinations of the six numbers on the dice will create 2 or 12. There are 3 ways to roll a 4; 4 ways to roll a 5; 5 ways to roll 8; 4 ways to roll 9, 3 ways to roll 10 and 6 ways to roll a 7. To determine the odds of rolling any particular number, divide 6 y the number of ways to roll the number. The true odds for rolling a 10 are 2 to 1. True odds for rolling 8 are 6 to 5. True odds of rolling 9 are 3 to 2. True odds of rolling 5 are 3 to 2 and so on. With this knowledge of dice probabilities and the way to calculate the odds in the casino game craps, you’ll have a better understanding of what to do next time you’re sitting at the craps table.

Games like Blackjack are different. Every turn of a card recalculates the odds because it changes the cards that remain to be overturned. The advantage in Blackjack fluctuates back and forth between house and player based on how the cards overturned so far have been used by the players and also on each player’s skill level. Other games that are based on skill, such as poker can result in positive returns and may be why poker is making such an incredible comeback!

Another way to help calculate the odds of various casino games is to purchase an odds calculator or download odds-calculating software. These tools can perform actual calculations based on real data. For example, with poker calculators you put in your actual card values as they are dealt to you. The calculator then provides you with information about your odds of inning as a percentage. They’ll also make suggestions about your next play.

There are other tools to help calculate the odds for various casino games including books and expert’s advice columns. But the common thread you’ll find in all this information is that casino game odds are based on the laws of mathematics, specifically the laws of probability and statistics. If you don’t understand these laws, you might not “get” how to calculate the odds for various casino games. If that’s the case, you’ll just have to sit back and rely on Lady Luck!