The Built-In Advantage of the Casino
You've likely heard the saying that the house always comes out on top. It's a direct reference to the house edge, the mathematical advantage that ensures casino profitability. It is the casino's built-in mathematical advantage over the player in any given game. Grasping this concept is essential for anyone who wants to gamble intelligently.
The Math Behind the Advantage
The house edge is derived from the difference between the true odds of winning a bet and the odds that the casino pays out for that win. Let's use a simple example from Roulette:
The wheel has 37 numbers in total.
The actual probability of your number coming up is 1/37.
However, if you do win, the casino pays you out at 35 to 1, not 36 to 1.
That small difference is where the casino gets its edge.
In this case, casino the house edge is 2.7%. This means that for every $100 bet on the wheel over a long period, the casino expects to make an average profit of $2.70.
Which Games Offer the Best Odds?
Not all games are created equal