Over The Long Haul, The Casino Always Wins
Hopefully you’ve heard this one many times before now. But it’s true. There are some gamblers that would dispute that, but they’re only fooling themselves. Nobody, not even the MIT Blackjack team, can consistently overcome the automatic advantage that all casinos enjoy. That goes for land-based casinos or the online variety.
You can prove this to yourself if you think about. Every day, thousands of people pour into a casino, all of them expecting to be winners and to make a profit from their wagers. If the casino didn’t have a built-in profit percentage, it wouldn’t be able to stay in business very long. Just the fact that the casino remains there, month after month, year after year, is proof of a the well thought out plan that casino managers use to make a profit and stay in business.
Occasionally you’ll hear a player say that casinos cheat in order to stay in business. A brick-and-mortar casino wouldn’t stay in business if that were the case. It wouldn’t be long before word would get out about the cheating and players would leave by the bus load. Plus, in Nevada and many other states, strict controls and inspections are in place to prevent even minor infractions. Even shady Internet casinos can’t pull their shenanigans for long, because watchdog groups are dedicated to keeping the public informed about attempts at cheating.
So the truth is that casinos always win in the long run and the simple reason for that is what is commonly referred to as the “house edge.” And really, that’s the only reason they’re able to keep their doors open. Put another way, the casino is not gambling. Only the players are.
The house edge can be expressed as a percentage. It describes the long-term advantage that any game of chance (and therefore the casino) has over the player. And while the percentage that the casino keeps varies from casino to casino, it allows management to count on consistent revenue; revenue that pays employees, buys gambling equipment and allows for a hefty profit.
Let’s say that a particular game has house edge of 10%. That means that (on average) a player will lose $10 for every $100 he wagers (or $1 for every $10). When you consider that it’s not unusual for millions of dollars to be risked in one casino in one day, it’s obvious why they’re so profitable.
At this point you might be wondering why players even gamble. We gamble because the casino edge is based on the “long term”. Those who play the games base their expectations on the short term. Anything can happen in the short term and the casino expects to payout a jackpot here and there. It’s just part of the game – so to speak.
The good news is that there are techniques that players can apply to make the best of the situation. But that’s for another post.
In the meantime, happy gambling and may the good news be yours. / TMG
Practice Video Poker and Keno for Free
very nice,
Thanks for sharing. I will definitely keep these tips in mind for the future. Well, good luck to all the other players in a casino.
Seems reasonable on the surface, as ‘knowledge’ of these games, beyond the peripheral, has yet to be explored much less applied.
Small example, the push back against any non-random ideology pertaining to the ‘deck of 52’ cards is virtually absolute. (You know, two were hit, the third came down randomly.)
Lots of people talking ‘basic strategy’, ‘card counting’ et al. The stuff of casino legend, myth over math. Can’t solve the problem unless you know what that problem is and unless you know the precise mathematical reason for ’21’s’ jack,queen, king’s designated values of 10.10.10 . . . you don’t know what that problem is.
What is the reason?
The odds of every game in casino are favor of the casino’ in the long run. Jackpots can be won, sure, but the vast majority of layers will lose.