Odds on the Floor
by Alex J Coyne © 2018 Gifts for Card Players
Beating the house at the casino is all about understanding and working with odds and probability. (Of course, it’s also about having fun while you’re doing it, but like we said, it’s about statistics!) So, we took a look at some odds around some of the most popular casino games. What are the odds of landing on even? How can you figure out your probability of taking something home at the slot machines?
The Digdia Slots Calculator
Want to know your odds at the slot machines? You can use the handy Digdia Slots Calculator so you don’t have to do any of the calculations the old fashioned way. And, the coolest thing about it is that it’s set up to help you figure out several types of slot machines depending on how many reels they have and whether wins are counter straight, up, down or diagonally.
The Odds of Roulette
According to Roulette Online, “the American roulette wheel has a zero, a double-zero and 36 regular numbers.” This, it notes, means that roulette bets on a single number gives you a 1 in 38 chance of winning. (Yes, that’s once every 38 spins.) When you’re betting on odd or even instead of a single number, you’re increasing your chances of a win – but taking a much lower payout for it.
Roulette Online and Roulette on Web’s Roulette School also notes that for roulette played in Europe, the odds of winning the even bet are calculated as 18/37, or instead a percentage value of 48.64% if you’re betting on even. (Again, at a lower payout of 1:1.)
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Calculating Hold Em Odds and More
Poker is all about the hands that have been played and the hands still to come – with a little bit of bluffing and poker-face skills thrown into the mix. If you’re practicing from home, you might want to play around with this Texas Hold’Em Calculator from CardPlayer.com that can help you get into the technical side of the game. PokerListings.com also lists this “Which hand wins?” calculator that can tell you which hand takes the pot when you’re in the middle of a game and unsure.
The Wizard of Odds: Blackjack
The Wizard of Odds is a super-comprehensive resource of statistics and mathematics, explained in a genius way that doesn’t bore the reader to death or make them feel “lost” in the numbers. For blackjack statistics, you can visit the Blackjack Probability page. According to The Wizard, “the probability of an overall win in blackjack is 42.22%, a tie is 8.48%, and a loss is 49.10%.” He also happens to have a handy section for slots which can be found here.
The Odds of Rolling Doubles
We can thank website “Thinking Bettor” for this calculation. According to the website, “the chances of rolling doubles with a single toss of a pair of dice is 1 in 6.” The website continues: “People want to believe it’s 1 in 36, but that’s only if you specify which pair of doubles must be thrown.”
From there, we double-checked. According to Stay or Switch, “to calculate your chance of rolling doubles, add up all the possible ways to roll doubles (1,1; 2,2; etc.). There are 6 ways we can roll doubles, or a probability of 6/36, or 1/6, on any roll of two fair dice.”
