Responsible Gambling Awareness Week - October 20-26, 2008
Know the Odds
What Are Your Chances?
Gambling games are based on the concept of randomness, which means that the outcome is always unknown. When you gamble you can hope to win but the odds always favour the house.
Understanding the Odds
Before you gamble, know how the games work and the odds of winning and losing so you can set limits on the amount you are prepared to bet – and potentially lose. The odds of winning vary from one game to the next and depend on a number of factors. For some games, determining the odds is much easier than for other games; for some games, the number of players, rules or nature of a particular game can affect the odds.
Baccarat
The rules of play in Baccarat produce a small, yet measurable advantage for the house for both player and banker bets, and a steep jump in advantage for tie bets (14.3 per cent). The banker will win 50.68 per cent of all non-tie hands and the player 49.32 per cent.
Blackjack
The house advantage in Blackjack varies from a high of 6 per cent to a low of .54 per cent if you are employing ‘basic blackjack strategy’.
Craps
Knowing the mathematical odds of the dice achieving a certain outcome is the essence of the game. The house has an advantage from a low with a Pass Line bet of .382 per cent to a high of 16.7 per cent (odds of rolling a 2 or a 12).
Table Poker
The casino has no house advantage in table poker because players are playing against each other. Instead, the casino collects approximately $3 (varies by casino) per pot, per hand, to cover operating costs. This is called the RAKE.
Roulette
Casinos in Alberta currently use either an ‘American’ double-zero roulette wheel which consists of 38 numbered slots: numbers 1 to 36, a zero, and a double zero, or a ‘European’ single-zero roulette wheel which is identical except there is no double zero. The house edge on the double-zero wheel is 1/19, or 5.26 per cent, except for one bet. The exception is the 0-00-1-2-3 combination, which carries a house edge of 7.89 per cent. The house edge on the single-zero roulette wheel is 2.7% on all bets.
Slots
On average, slots in Alberta pay out 92 per cent of all money wagered. That payout rate of 92 per cent is based on the life of a machine, not on one playing session. Over the life of a slot machine, or put another way, after millions and millions of spins, the laws of probability will allow a few players to win, cause some to lose, and leave others to walk away even. But in the short term, anything can happen.
Lotto 6/49
Although the odds of winning any prize on this game are 1 in 32.3 (per six number selection), the odds of matching all six numbers drawn are 1 in 13,983,816.
| Winning Selection | Odds of Winning are 1 in |
|---|---|
| All six numbers | 13,983,816 |
| 5 + the Bonus number | 2,330,636 |
| 5 numbers | 55,492 |
| 4 numbers | 1,033 |
| 3 numbers | 56.7 |
| 2 + the Bonus number | 81.2 |
Lotto Max
Although the odds of winning any prize on this game are 1 in 6.6, the odds of matching all seven numbers drawn are 1 in 28,633,528.
| Winning Selection | Odds of Winning are 1 in |
|---|---|
| All seven numbers correctly | 28,633,528 |
| 6 + the Bonus number | 4,090,504 |
| 6 numbers | 99,768.4 |
| 5 numbers | 1,583.6 |
| 4 numbers | 71.3 |
| 3 + the Bonus number | 76.7 |
| 3 numbers | 8.1 |
Extra
Although the odds of winning any prize on this game are 1 in 10, the odds of winning the top prize are 1 in 6,000,000.
| Winning Selection | Odds of Winning are 1 in |
|---|---|
| Matching all 7 numbers | 6,000,000 |
| Matching last 6 numbers | 1,200,000 |
| Matching last 5 numbers | 111,111 |
| Matching last 4 numbers | 111,111 |
| Matching last 3 numbers | 1,111 |
| Matching last 2 numbers | 111 |
| Matching last number | 11 |