Читать книгу Casino Gambling For Dummies - Swain Scheps - Страница 84

If you’re good at math, you can often detect when the casino payout odds are lower than true odds. (See the section “Factoring in the odds” earlier in this chapter.) For example, with a pair of dice, you have 36 different combinations, so it’s easy to calculate the true odds for any combination of dice. But with other games, the odds can be impossible to calculate. Take slots, for example: The thousands of possible winning reel combinations and ever-changing progressive jackpots make it difficult for anyone to calculate the odds of winning.

Adding to the confusion around odds is the casino’s sleight of hand in their use of the word for instead of to. When you see payout odds listed as 10-to-1, it means you get paid $11 for a winning bet: $10 in profit plus the $1 you initially wagered. However, a 10-for-1 bet means your total payout is $10, resulting in a profit of only $9. For example, in video poker, a flush pays 6-for-1, which means your win of six coins includes your original wager. This small detail may seem like a silly case of semantics, but don’t underestimate its impact.

This section ties together the joint concepts of payout odds and true odds that will get you on the road to understanding the house edge (or advantage). Armed with a full understanding of that key statistic, you’ll be able to discriminate between good and bad bets in a casino.