Online Casino - Casino Odds - Online Casino Odds

Casino odds, generally, predict whether you'll draw a certain card, or if you'll roll the right number. Most people know these types of odds or chances of winning.

Besides these general odds, casinos have special house odds that also affect the probabilities of winning an amount that will be paid out. While the breakouts on actual percentages and their calculations can be confusing, the concept of house odds is simple. It assumes that sooner or later the casino will win more money than it will lose due to human nature and the law of averages. The business side of gaming operations sets that odds for all games favor the casino. This ensures a profit limit.

House odds along with general odds combine to create what is known as the "edge" or "house advantage." House advantage is a part of every game through the casino's specific rules regarding how the game will be played, betting procedures, and payoff policies.

The following example will help you to understand better the way house odds work, combined with payoffs. When flipping a coin - heads you win, tails the casino wins. If you lose, you pay $1 to the casino, but if the casino loses, it only pays out 90¢. Actually you are shorted a dime every time you win. And the longer you play, the more the casino earns, which is why casinos work hard to keep customers at their tables and slot machines. This coin flipping example would be known as a 10 percent disadvantage, where you lose 10¢ on every winning bet.

Casinos earn between 1%-35% commission from your winnings, depending on the game rules and how bets are placed. So, why do gamblers keep coming back, if all casinos manipulate the payoff amounts, and the way they influence the odds of winning through rules of play? That's because sometimes luck can beat a casino's edge. All those stories about people dropping in a quarter at the slot machine and winning $25,000 in return; or the person who has never played blackjack before hitting twenty-one in his very first hand. If you only make one bet, win, and then walk away not to wager again, you've beaten the law of averages, and the casino loses its advantage. But in the reality of gambling people don't leave after one win. They stay and continue to play, and that's what the casinos count on.

Skilled and experienced gamblers, may also cut into the casino's edge. So-called "card counters" who have developed systems in which they can better predict their probabilities of winning are usually not welcomed at casinos, although there is no law that specifically forbids the practice. As a dealer, however, you'll be trained to watch out for card counters as well as people who actually cheat.

Professional gamblers and cheaters are only a small part of a casino's customers, and if kept in check, have a little affect on a casino's profit margins. That's because for most people gambling is a sport and a hobby. Casino customers prefer to gamble in such a way as to prolong play. They slowly work through their bankroll and often make the so-called sucker bets because they are really more interested in the excitement of the game than in making impressive gambling decisions.