Casino players that prefer games of luck may assume that the odds have nothing to do with them.  After all, there’s nothing you can do to manipulate those odds.  The truth is that the odds remain just as important to a slots player as they do to a poker player, perhaps more so because of the slots players’ inability to improve them.

Likewise if you are a first-time casino player and are trying to decide which game is best for you, an understanding of the odds can help you to choose the game that offers you the most bang for your buck.  Last but not least, if you’re one of the ambitious players that hopes to turn a real profit from your game play…Well then you should already know just how important odds are.

Each casino game has very specific odds, and when we say odds we mean the odds of you winning of course.  The odds are calculated for overall likelihood of winning and are also calculated for each individual bet or combination.  The overall odds are often referred to as the house edge.  The house edge is usually a smaller number that represents the advantage of the house.  In other words, if the house edge on a game is 5% that means the house will beat a player with a perfect strategy 5% more often than not.  Individual odds are calculated based on likelihood.  For example, if you make a specific bet on red in roulette your odds are 47.37% that the ball will land on a red space (it’s the additional green spaces that prevent red/black bets from having 50/50 odds). 

By identifying the games with the lowest house edge and by sticking to the bets with the best odds you give yourself a greater chance of keeping your money or even of winning more.  In a skill-based game like blackjack a perfect strategy can eliminate the house edge altogether.  And in poker where you are competing against other players instead of the casino there is no house edge at all (though the casino does take a small percentage of every pot). 

Now back to luck-based games like the slots.  This is where a number called the “payout percentage” really comes in handy.  The payout percentage is the average amount of money that the machine pays back per every spin.  Mind you, this average incorporates all play and all payouts including jackpots.  Therefore the payout you receive in your single session could vary wildly from the overall average payout percentage.  Still, if you were to play slots religiously every day for a year, you would likely find that your win to loss ratio was very close to the advertised payout percentage. 

Where people get confused is in assuming that the payout percentage is what they should be leaving the casino with.  For example, if the payout percentage on a slot machine is 97% and they put $100 in a machine, many people believe that means they will leave with $97.  But remember that on average you are losing 3% of that $100 with every spin and that most people put their winnings back in until the 3% gradually takes it all away.

Keeping that $100 example in mind, imagine if instead you were playing a game with a 99% payout percentage.  Now you are only losing 1% with every spin which stretches your bankroll and gives you more time (and thus better odds) to win.  While the difference may not sound like much initially, if you’re a regular player a couple percent per spin or hand or roll can really add up.