How to Play Around the House Advantage

In the long-term the casino will reap the rewards, but windfall profits are available in the short-term for players.

Topics Addressed

Maximizing Short-Term Gains
Gambling Strategy

The concept of house edge has been explained as the average of the money lost as a fraction of the initial bet. There is a special emphasis on the difference between the true payout vs. the actual casino payout. If the long-term probability ratios indicate that the casino will profit off players (based on cards dealt, spinning reels or dice combinations thrown), then the true profit potential for players is available in the short-term.

Maximizing Short-term Gains

There is no ideal way to gain an advantage over the casino, but there are many ways to play intelligently based on what's available. A common tip that is shared among savvy gamblers is this: play single zero roulette as opposed to double zero (00) roulette. Why? Because the house edge on single zero roulette is 2.70% and on (00) roulette it's 5.26%.

Then of course there are the two games that do not have fixed house edges and the more intelligent you are - in terms of memory, numeracy and strategic playing ability - the better you will fare. These games include blackjack and video poker. Note that the reason a player can benefit substantially from these games is that the more intelligence you put into the game, the more you take out of it in real money.

Generally however the tips, tricks and strategies required to eliminate or greatly diminish the house edge (vigorish) would require years of training and extensive inner-knowledge of card combinations and possibilities. A general rule is to avoid playing games over the long term whose house edge is higher relative to the norm. Games with house edges above 20% tend to be high risk for punters, but in the short term there are windfall profits to be made.

There is also the risk of fallacy.Many players wrongly assume that if either black or red consistently lands on roulette then the other colour is bound to hit. This is wrong. Roulette is governed only by the laws of chance and black, red or green can hit at any time. No 'number' or 'colour' is 'due' to come up. The same goes for slot machines not paying out. These slots are governed by random number generators (RNGs) and the odds of hitting a jackpot are determined by chance alone.