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Casino, Sports Betting, And Lottery - A Comparison Of The House
By Melkam Dirset, Fri Dec 9th
/p> The house edge, which is the commission that a gambling agentsuch as a casino, a sportsbook (bookmaker), or a lotteryadministrator charges, is a yardstick that measures how aspecific gambling game is fair and reasonable. It is one of themost important factors that every player should considerwhenever he/she is engaged in any type of gambling, inasmuch asit indicates how much of the money wagered goes to the gamblingagent's pocket and how much is redistributed to the winners. Indeed, a house edge cannot be zero since casinos, sportsbooks,and lottery administrators have to make some money in order tocover their expenses, and to make some profit as well. Yet, ahigh house edge simply means that the players are unecessarilybeing ripped-off, and as a result, any gambling game with a highhouse edge should certainly be avoided by a knowledgeablegambler. In this article, we shall compare, in the simplest way possible,the house edges of a roulette, an evens-odd betting, and a Cash3 lottery game as representatives of the three
major gamblingcategories. (Article continued below)
The Equation
The easiest way to compute a house edge is to compare the actualwinnings that are paid by the respective agents to the winningsthat would be paid in a fair game or bet. A fair game or a fairbet is one in which no commission is involved; an obvious modelis a game between friends. Therefore, in percentage form, thehouse edge is obtained by subtracting an actual game winningfrom a fair game winning and dividing the result by the fairgame winning, finally multiplying by 100. Thus,
House Edge = [ (fair game winning - real game winning) / fairgame winning ] * 100
Roulette Because of its simplicity and popularity, we shall consider theroulette as a representative casino game. A European roulettewheel has grooves marked by the numbers 0 to 36; the Americanwheel (also called Las Vegas wheel) has an additional groovemarked as '00'. So, the European wheel has a total of 37numbers, while the American wheel has 38. Internet casinosusually make available the option to select the type of wheelthe customer prefers, but the brick and mortar casinos normallyoffer only one type. The winning number in a roulette game isthe number corresponding to the groove where a spinning balllands.
Now, consider a fair game in which 38 friends are playing theroulette at home, and each one selects a number and places a $1bet on the number (no two or more players wagering on the samenumber). When the ball is spun and lands in a groove, the numbermarking that groove will be the winning number. The person whohas selected this winning number collects all the money on thetable thus making him win $37. On the other hand, if the gamewere conducted in a casino, the winner would be paid only $35.The difference between the two winnings applied in the aboveequation gives us the house edge of a roulette game as ( 37 - 35 ) / 37 * 100 = 2 / 37 * 100 = 5.4% This means that every time you spend a $100 on an offline oronline casino roulette, $5.40 goes to the casino and the rest isredistributed to the winners. Evidently, there are quite anumber of casino games and the house edge varies from game togame, many of them having a house edge less than that of theroulette. For obvious reasons, a good gambler always prefersgames that have low house edges, while the casino itself lovesthose games with high house edges. For example, the house edgeof craps is 1.4% which makes it one of the most preferred casinogames by the players. Even-odds Sports Betting Again, because of its simplicity, we shall consider an even-oddsbetting as a representative of this category of gambling. Byeven-odds we mean that the event (usually a sports game) hasequal chances of going either way. An example is a tennis matchbetween two competitive players each of which has an equalchance of winning the match. A fair bet, in this case, is just a simple bet between twofriends who just pick one of the tennis player as winner. Ifthese two friends wager $1 each, the winner will collect $2,thus winning $1. If instead the bets are placed through asportsbook, the winner will collect only $1.91, since the oddsof an evens game at most bookies and online sportsbooks is 1.91.If you are not familiar with the decimal representation of odds,1.91 is the same as 10/11 in UK notation and -110 in US oddsnotation. Odds of 10/11 mean that you'll win $10 when you wager$11; and odds of -110 mean that you have to wager $110 in orderto win $100. Anyway, since the winnings paid by a sportsbook isonly $0.91, the house edge of an even-odds betting willtherefore be ( 1 - 0.91 ) / 1 * 100 = 0.09 * 100 = 9% So, this is how sportsbooks make a living. Since severalinternet sportsbooks offer odds higher than 1.91 in order tolure bettors, the house edge could be smaller than 9%, which isone of the things that the bettor should be looking for whensearching for a sportsbook. On the other hand, if the bettor iswagering on parlays the house edge would be significantly higherthan 9%; for big parlays, it could go as high as 40%. It should be apparent by now that the gambler is better off withcasino games than sports betting. It should also be noted thatwhile the house edge could be a major factor to consider whileselecting a gambling game, it is by no means the only one. Forinstance, one should consider the fact that casino games aremostly games of chance, while sports betting also involves alearned decision in selecting a pick, consequently leading to ahigher probability of winning a bet. Cash 3 Depending on the state you are in, this lottery game may beknown by a different name such as Pick 3, Play 3, Daily 3, etc.In this game, the player selects a three-digit number from 000to 999, and plays the number as a straight or as a box. Astraight play is a prediction that the number will come exactlyas selected while a box is a prediction for the number to comein any order. For instance, if a player selects the number 672and plays it straight, he/she will win if the number drawn isexactly 672. Instead, if the player plays 672 as a box, he/shewill win as long as the drawn number contains a 6, a 7 and a 2,in any order (276, for example). Obviously, a straight gamepays much more than a box game for the same amount wagered.
Now consider 1000 friends (maybe in a club) selecting a numberas a straight, each for $1, so that all the 1000 possiblenumbers are covered. When the winning number is drawn, theperson who has selected that lucky number will be deemed awinner and will cash in all the $1000 collected, so making himwin $999. This is a fair game. In the case of state lotteries,however, the winner will be paid only $500 in most states. Somestates may pay a little bit less, others may pay a little bitmore, but $500 is more or less the standard. The winnertherefore wins $499. The house edge for a Cash 3 game willtherefore be ( 999 - 499 ) / 999 * 100 = 500 / 999 * 100 = 50% This house edge applies not only to the Cash 3 game but also toall state lottery games such as Play 4, Cash 5, Mega, Fantasy 5,Lotto, Power Ball, etc. So, whenever you are playing the statelottery, remember that you are wagering only half of your moneyon the actual lottery; the other half, you are just giving itaway. Where this other half goes is not the gambler's concern,since his/her main objective is to win some money in order topay the ever present bills, or to get out of a miserable life,or to change his/her 20-year-old car. As regards contributing toeducation and other noble causes, there are other means ofcollecting money called taxes and charities. Unfortunately, many states do not allow casino games, andfurthermore, sports betting is illegal in the United States.The player is therefore left with no choice but to cross stateborders in search of a casino, or more recently, to engage inonline sports betting through the several offshore internetsportsbooks. Nowadays, there is a plethora of trustworthy onlinecasinos and sportsbooks operating from Canada, the UK, Antigua,Costa Rica, and so on. The Conclusion As far as the house edge is concerned, it has been shown thatcasino games are the best choice for the gambler. On the otherend, any state lottery is a pretty miserable game to play.Nevertheless, besides the house edge, there is also thepossibility of winning to consider. Casino games, like lotteries are mostly games of chance; theplayer just selects a number or numbers and waits to see whatluck brings him/her. There is absolutely no basis to prefer onenumber to others. Some people try to analyze previously drawnnumbers in order to see the trend and predict the next numbers.This strategy may work a few times, but not always. Keep in mindthat it is the players, and not the machines, who remember theprevious numbers. In short, the possibility of winning aroulette or the lottery entirely depends on luck. While there is little or nothing that a roulette or a lottoplayer can do to initially select a possible winning number, thesituation could be quite different in the case of betting. Witha lot of information and some assistance from sportshandicappers, it is possible to predict the outcome of a sportsevent with more certainty than predicting a Cash 3 number. About the author:The author's web site athttp://www.sports-betting.webconveniencestore.com?s=ga1 presentsstrategies, with fully corroborative evidence, on "How to Winin Sports Betting Using Parlays". | Sign In |
