LAS VEGAS ODDS
  
 
   
       
  OK, your going to Vegas, you've got your room reserved, your flight booked, your going to show no mercy to those casinos and come back home with a fortune!    
 
Are you nuts?

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  There isn't a single game in the casino that doesn't have a "house edge" (how else do you think they pay for all those light bulbs?), Your only hope of coming home a winner is first got understand the odds that you are bucking. Study the games with the best percentages. Tale every advantage that the casino is willing to give you.  
  This section deals with the general odds, as they exist today, in Las Vegas. For greater detail (where it exists) you may want to go to the specific game where the variations in odds are discussed in detail.  
 
Please note; at all times we will attempt to state the odds as a percentage of house advantage. This means, if the house has a 5.37% advantage (as in Roulette), for every $100.00 that you bet, the house expects to keep $5.37. These percentages are true and will prove themselves out over millions of decisions via the law of large numbers.
 
     
  Slots - Being the most popular game in the casino, it's only fitting that we deal with slots first.  
  Slots offer a range of house advantage between 1.3% and 27%. The law in the state of Nevada allows a maximum 27% take out for "gaming machines". Of course the casino knows that if they "set" all their machines to hold 27% (or even 7%) the slots area of the casino would soon be the loneliest place on the floor, and they'd have to hire more porters just to keep the machines dusted off. So they institute what's known as a "slots mix" where the hold percentage varies among like machines. The overall hold (and this does vary with the casino) will be about 10%, but this will vary wildly, with enough machines paying out often enough to hold the customers excitement level at a high point, and enough machines acting like they have a vacuum hose stuck into your pocket to make up for the low percentage machines.  
  I know, somewhere else on this page I stated that Caesar's has (or at least had) 3 $25 machines set with a 105% payout (that's a -5% hold). These are strictly promotions and will come and go like a wraith in the night.    
  As all slots cost exactly the same amount to operate (on average) it stands to reason (and is generally true) that the machines with the overall lowest percentage of house hold are the ones that cost the most to play. Therefore while the Quarter machines may have an overall 13% hold the Dollar machines will tend toward a 9% hold, the $5 a 5%, the $25 a 2% and the
$100 a !.5%.		    
       
  Roulette - This one's easy (and after the slots I thought we needed an easy one).    
  Every bet on the Roulette table, whether it be black or red, or a single number, or any of the combination bets, has a house advantage of 5.37%.    
       
  Baccarat - Another easy one.    
  Bet on player and the house has a 1.3% advantage
Bet on banker and the house has a 0.9% advantage (this is after the "commission", before you have a 4.1% advantage over the house)
    
       
  Blackjack - The odds on blackjack depend greatly on your play, these stated odds will be assuming perfect basic strategy. Note, These odds are for Blackjack as played on the strip, Downtown, where double on split doesn't apply you loose about 0.4%, and any gimmick games (Spanish 21, Jackpot 21, etc.) are all packaged to give the house a substantial additional edge. We won't cover these but, you can figure at least an additional 3% house edge on any of these sucker games.    
  If you play perfect basic strategy, and flat bet, the house will have a 3.3% advantage.    
       
  Big Six or Wheel of Fortune -    
  You would ask about that one. The house enjoys, over all a 22% advantage at the "wheel".    
       
  Caribbean Stud Poker - This game has a "jackpot" side bet involved, I won't go into analyzing these here, any analyses of these is in the games section,    
  If you play this game correctly the house has about a 5.2% advantage, this is one of those games where the house relies heavily on improper play.    
       
  Let It Ride - This game has a "jackpot" side bet involved, I won't go into analyzing these here, any analysis of these is in the games section,    
  This game can get wild and woolly, it is more likely than most others to tempt poor play, so be careful! With proper (extremely tight) play Let It Ride has a house advantage of a fraction over 7.6%,    
       
  Pi Gow Poker - This game is a true gem! It sometimes comes with an optional "jackpot" or "fortune" feature which we won't discuss here. If your playing the "Comps" game, be prepared to play for higher stakes and for longer periods as this game is only tracked at 1/2 value to the house.    
  With correct play Pi Gow Poker has only a 0.87% house advantage, not bad when you consider that winning bets are only paid at .95 to 1, but be careful in placing your bets, the "house rake" on bets not devisable by 5 is rounded up.    
       
  Craps -    
 

The best bets on a Craps table (excluding the free odds on the pass line) ate:
Pass - the house has a 1.739% advantage
Don't Pass - the house has a 1.42% advantage
The worst bet is the 12 (the center spread, single roll bet) where the house has a 37% advantage.
There are many in between, for more complete information see our Craps page.

   
       
  Poker - This is the card game, not Video Poker    
  Poker is a true game of skill and has no house advantage as such. The house makes it's money by "renting" you your seat either in the form of an hourly "collection" or by "raking" each pot. The rake is generally 3% with a $3 cap.    
       
  Video Poker -    
  The house percentage on Video Poker is governed by two seemingly conflicting laws. The first law is the one that regulates the maximum takeout of all gaming machines that says the house can't keep more than 27% of all Moines played. The second regulates mechanical card games (Video Poker and Video Blackjack) and it says that the machine must give out a truly random selection of cards, that the pool must consist of one standard deck (52 or 53 cards depending on if there is a Joker in the game), and that the machine cannot reuse discards.
The house controls it's percentage of hold by changing the payouts on various machines. Look for a non gimmick machine (no wild cards or strange payouts) that pays 1 for 1 on qualifiers (generally Jacks or better), 2 for 1 on two pair and at least 4 for 1 for a straight.		    
       
  The Difference In The Way Odds Are Stated At The Table    
  It was pointed out to me that many people are confused by the "for" and "to" statements when odds are quoted, some think that there the same thing. So I decided to clarify the situation. Simply put the difference between stating that a bet pays 1 to 1 and that It pays 1 for 1 is one unit. If the bet pays 1 to 1 and you bet one unit (and win) the house pays you one unit to go with the one you bet (you now have two units), if the bet pays 1 for 1 and you bet one unit (and you win) the house pays you one unit to replace the unit that you bet and they picked up (you now have one unit).