Big Six, big 6 casino game strategy.
Big 6 casino game strategy
Online casino sites to play on real money
The house edge on both versions of the aruze game is significantly less than standard big six, with a live dealer. The following table shows the betting options, payout odds, number on wheel, and the house edge under the las vegas rules big six rules.
Big six
Introduction
This name goes by various names: big six, wheel of fortune, money wheel, big wheel, and lucky wheel. Whatever the name, it is a big vertical wheel where the player bets on the number it will stop on. The odds are conveniently the same as the number. For example, a bet on 5 will pay 5 to 1.
The odds are pretty bad but at least you can count it usually being staffed by the front door with an attractive well-endowed dealer. Just one of those vegas traditions.
Las vegas rules
The following table shows the betting options, payout odds, number on wheel, and the house edge under the las vegas rules big six rules.
Las vegas rules
| bet | pays | number on wheel | probability | house edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1 | 1 | 24 | 44.44% | 11.11% |
| $2 | 2 | 15 | 27.78% | 16.67% |
| $5 | 5 | 7 | 12.96% | 22.22% |
| $10 | 10 | 4 | 7.41% | 18.52% |
| $20 | 20 | 2 | 3.70% | 22.22% |
| logo #1 | 40 | 1 | 1.85% | 24.07% |
| logo #2 | 40 | 1 | 1.85% | 24.07% |
Atlantic city rules
The atlantic city is the same as the las vegas one, except they change one $1 position to $5, and the pay 45 instead of 40 on the two logos.
Atlantic city rules
| bet | pays | number on wheel | probability | house edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1 | 1 | 23 | 42.59% | 14.81% |
| $2 | 2 | 15 | 27.78% | 16.67% |
| $5 | 5 | 8 | 14.81% | 11.11% |
| $10 | 10 | 4 | 7.41% | 18.52% |
| $20 | 20 | 2 | 3.70% | 22.22% |
| logo #1 | 45 | 1 | 1.85% | 14.81% |
| logo #2 | 45 | 1 | 1.85% | 14.81% |
Charles town rules
The hollywood casino in charles town, west virginia, follows the atlantic city rules, except pays only 40 on the two logos.
Big six — charles town WV rules
| bet | pays | number on wheel | probability | house edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1 | 1 | 23 | 42.59% | 14.81% |
| $2 | 2 | 15 | 27.78% | 16.67% |
| $5 | 5 | 8 | 14.81% | 11.11% |
| $10 | 10 | 4 | 7.41% | 18.52% |
| $20 | 20 | 2 | 3.70% | 22.22% |
| logo #1 | 40 | 1 | 1.85% | 24.07% |
| logo #2 | 40 | 1 | 1.85% | 24.07% |
Macau rules
In macau there is a similar game. One or two wheels each can be found in the larger casinos. It does not seem to be a popular game there. The game wheel is the same size, but instead of dollars, it has colors. The table below shows the number of stops on the wheel, probability, and return for each bet. The table shows the best bet is tied for orange, purple, and green, at 7.69% each.
Big six — macau rules
| bet | pays | number on wheel | probability | house edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| orange | 1 | 24 | 46.15% | 7.69% |
| purple | 3 | 12 | 23.08% | 7.69% |
| green | 5 | 8 | 15.38% | 7.69% |
| blue | 10 | 4 | 7.69% | 15.38% |
| yellow | 20 | 2 | 3.85% | 19.23% |
| logo 1 | 45 | 1 | 1.92% | 11.54% |
| logo 2 | 45 | 1 | 1.92% | 11.54% |
Australia rules
The star city casino in sydney has a similar game, called the "big wheel." instead of money, it uses native australian animals. As the following table shows, the house edge is the same on all bets at 7.69%.
Big six — australia rules
| bet | pays | number on wheel | probability | house edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| koala | 1 | 24 | 46.15% | 7.69% |
| kookaburra | 3 | 12 | 23.08% | 7.69% |
| lizard | 5 | 8 | 15.38% | 7.69% |
| echidna | 11 | 4 | 7.69% | 7.69% |
| platypus | 23 | 2 | 3.85% | 7.69% |
| emu | 47 | 1 | 1.92% | 7.69% |
| kangaroo | 47 | 1 | 1.92% | 7.69% |
Aruze & interblock lucky big wheel
Aruze and interblock are makers of electronic table games. They both make a big six wheel that are mathematically equivalent. The following tables show the bets available, the number of stops for each one, the probability of winning, and house edge.
Aruze and interblock big six wheel
| bet | pays | number on wheel | probability | house edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1 | 1 | 26 | 48.15% | 3.70% |
| $3 | 3 | 13 | 24.07% | 3.70% |
| $6 | 6 | 7 | 12.96% | 9.26% |
| $12 | 12 | 4 | 7.41% | 3.70% |
| $25 | 25 | 2 | 3.70% | 3.70% |
| flag | 50 | 1 | 1.85% | 5.56% |
| joker | 50 | 1 | 1.85% | 5.56% |
| total | 54 | 100.00% |
In addition, aruze makes another version with a $6.50 symbol instead of $6 and the joker and flag bets pay 52 instead of 50. This more liberal wheel I've seen at the star city casino in sydney, australia. The full odds are below.
Aruze lucky big wheel — australian version
| bet | pays | number on wheel | probability | house edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 26 | 48.15% | 3.70% |
| 3 | 3 | 13 | 24.07% | 3.70% |
| 6.5 | 6.5 | 7 | 12.96% | 2.78% |
| 12 | 12 | 4 | 7.41% | 3.70% |
| 25 | 25 | 2 | 3.70% | 3.70% |
| joker | 52 | 1 | 1.85% | 1.85% |
| flag | 52 | 1 | 1.85% | 1.85% |
| total | 54 | 100.00% |
The house edge on both versions of the aruze game is significantly less than standard big six, with a live dealer.
Gamesys
Internet casinos using gamesys software have two wheel of fortune games. Both have a 49-stop wheel with prizes of $1, $3, $7, $15, $23, and $47. The following table shows the number of stops of each win, what it pays, probability of winning, and house edge. As you can see, every bet has a house edge of 2.04%. That is the best big six/wheel of fortune game I've ever seen, by far.
Gamesys version
| bet | pays | number on wheel | probability | house edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 24 | 0.489796 | 0.020408 |
| 3 | 3 | 12 | 0.244898 | 0.020408 |
| 7 | 7 | 6 | 0.122449 | 0.020408 |
| 15 | 15 | 3 | 0.061224 | 0.020408 |
| 23 | 23 | 2 | 0.040816 | 0.020408 |
| logo | 47 | 1 | 0.020408 | 0.020408 |
| joker | 47 | 1 | 0.020408 | 0.020408 |
| total | 49 | 1.000000 |
The also have a "zero house edge" version. In that game the rules are the same, except:
- If the wheel stops on the logo, then any bet besides the logo shall push, instead of lose.
- If the wheel stops on the joker, then any bet on the logo shall push, instead of lose.
By changing one stop from a loss to a push on all bets, that does indeed make the house edge exactly 0.00%. However, there is a catch. The player must pay a 10% commission on any net win per "gambling session." any break between bets of an hour or more shall end a session and no session may last over 24 hours.
I saw this machine at the 2018 global gaming expo. The bonus issues prizes on a separate prize wheel of 5, 20, 50, 100, 250, and 100. I have no idea how they are weighted, so am leaving the return on that one a question mark.
Aruze lucky big wheel — american version
| bet | number on wheel | probability | house edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| $2 | 24 | 46.15% | 7.69% |
| $4 | 12 | 23.08% | 7.69% |
| $6 | 8 | 15.38% | 7.69% |
| $16 | 3 | 5.77% | 7.69% |
| $24 | 2 | 3.85% | 7.69% |
| $48 | 1 | 1.92% | 7.69% |
| bonus | 2 | 3.85% | ? |
| Total | 52 | 100.00% |
Interblock big six
Yet another interblock product is titled "big six." it follows the same rules as the australian version, except adds two more slices to the wheel titled "super spin." if the player bets on super spin and the wheel lands in one of those two slices on the wheel, then an electronic wheel in the middle of the big wheel will spin to determine the win. Possible wins are 20, 50, 75, 100, 500, and 1000. I do not know how this inner wheel is weighted. Company literature I obtained at the 2019 global gaming expo indicated there are five different pay tables for the super spin feature. Since then, I saw the game at the resorts world casino in new york city.
The following table shows the return of each bet. Wins are on a "to one" basis. The table shows a return of 88.89% on all bets (or 11.11% house edge) except the super spin, which I can't quantify without knowing the wheel weightings.
The big six wheel game – strategies & tips
The big six wheel is a very simple casino game that relies solely on luck and has no element of skill.
If you have ever seen wheel of fortune on TV, you will be familiar with the large wheel that is spun with many different segments that can be landed on when the wheel comes to a stop.
Big six is essentially this casino wheel game, which has 6 different outcomes with a total of 54 segments.
As it is purely a game of luck, the house edge is higher than many casino games and there is no real strategy that can be used to increase your chances of winning.
Big six has a number of other names at different casinos including wheel of fortune, lucky wheel, big wheel, and money wheel.
How to play big six
Once you have chosen how much you wish to bet, the wheel starts to spin.
There are 54 segments that the wheel can stop on with a total of 6 differing values. The amounts that appear the most often have the best chance of coming up and therefore also have the lowest payouts.
There are normally 52 segments containing numbers or symbols, and 2 that contain a joker or logo depending on where you are playing. These 2 segments are the least likely to come in and therefore have the best pay out, the amount can vary depending on where you play the big six.
Once the wheel comes to a stop, the winning segment is shown – this is usually at the top of the wheel and signified by a flexible piece of rubber, which will stop in a particular segment between the spokes found to the side of each segment.
A typical wheel is shown above, the segment at the top of the wheel contains the piece of rubber, which signifies the winning segment, you can then decide how much to bet each spin and the total bet amount is multiplied by the number that you bet on.
In the above example, you can bet on a 2 which pays 2x your total bet, a 5 which pays 5x your total bet, a blue 10 or red 10 which both pay 10x your total bet, a green 20 or purple 20 which pay 20x the total bet and a white joker or black joker which pay out higher amounts.
As with any casino game, big six has a house edge which means in the long run the casino has an advantage of winning in the end. The house edge tends to be lower at the smaller payout amounts but the house edge, in general, is one of the highest when playing big six compared to most other casino games.
Big six wheel payouts
The versions of big six differ from casino to casino, but a standard payout chart is shown below which is based on the las vegas rules.
All wheels tend to have 54 segments which include 2 jokers or logos that pay out the most, we recommend you shop around when trying to find a version of big six if that is your game of choice.
| Bet | pays | frequency | house edge | probability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| €1 | 1 to 1 | 24 | 11.11% | 44.44% |
| €2 | 2 to 1 | 15 | 16.67% | 27.78% |
| €5 | 5 to 1 | 7 | 22.22% | 12.96% |
| €10 | 10 to 1 | 4 | 18.52% | 7.41% |
| €20 | 20 to 1 | 2 | 22.22% | 3.70% |
| logo 1 | 40 to 1 | 1 | 24.07% | 1.85% |
| logo 2 | 40 to 1 | 1 | 24.07% | 1.85% |
As you will see from the above table, the more often a number appears, the lower the pay out but also the lower the house edge.
Although the logos pay out 40 to 1, there is just 1 logo out of the 54 segments so the house edge – the chance the casino will win compared to the player winning – is very high.
Big six strategy
As mentioned previously, big six is a game of pure luck and requires no skill at all and therefore it is hard to put together a strategy that will increase your chances of leaving a session ahead.
The best bets are those with a lower house edge – the lower payouts – so you are more likely to win and finish up by betting on these segments. As these also have the highest probability of coming in, they represent the highest chance of you winning by far.
However, you are not going to get rich by betting on these segments due to the low payouts, so some players prefer to go for the logos/jokers which rarely come in but pay out a lot more when they do and when your luck is in.
If you are looking to spend some time gambling with the hope of walking away ahead at the end of a session, there are much better casino games around than big six.
Big six tips
Like any casino game, you need to ensure that you are betting within your means. Therefore, before you start a session, ensure that you decide how much you can afford to lose and make sure you stick to this amount. We would recommend that you start with at least 40 bets so if you intend on betting €1 per spin, you would need a budget of €40 to start a session.
When playing big six, ensure you aren’t tired, depressed or under the influence of drink or drugs otherwise your judgment will be impaired making it more likely you will lose.
The key to any casino game is to have fun and enjoy the session if the enjoyment goes then stop and walk away.
The big 8 and big 6 bets
T he big 8 bet and big 6 bet are the same as the place bets for the 8 and 6 except that they pay off differently and are located in different spots on the layout. The big 8 and big 6 are such sucker bets that most people don’t bet them, so it’s become uncommon to see them on a craps table anymore.
These bets pay 1:1, or even money. The big 8 and big 6 bet amounts must be at least the table minimum and can’t be more than the table maximum. Usually, the only people who make these sucker bets are drunks and fools who gamble their hard-earned money on a game they know nothing about.
Current best rated casino
As you know by now from all of our other lessons, craps is a game built on mathematics. Knowing that, let’s see if you can figure out what makes these bets so bad. The key is in their payoffs, which is 1:1. Take a few moments to see if you can figure it out before reading further.
As are most other bets, the big 8 and big 6 are against the number 7. That is, when you make the bet, you gamble that the number will appear before a 7. If it does, you win. But if a 7 appears before the number, then you lose. Remember that the key is their 1:1 payoffs (e.G., if you make a $5 big 6 bet and win, you win $5). Does the 1:1 payoff seem fair to you? It shouldn’t! There are six ways to roll a 7, and only five ways to roll a 6. That means there are more ways for you to lose than win. For a bet that’s even money, you should expect there to be an equal number of ways to win and lose. Where we bet against the 7 and have more ways to lose than win, what do we expect to get for accepting that greater risk? Yes, that’s right, very good! We expect the payoff odds to be better than 1:1. Let’s compare two bets with different names where we bet the 6 against the 7. Can you think of a bet, other than the big 6, that considers the 6 against the 7? (that’s an easy question if you’ve been paying attention–it was identified in the first sentence.) very good! The answer is the place bet.
Let’s compare the big 6 to the place 6. From our other lesson on place bets, we know the bet amount for the place 6 bet must be in multiples of $6. So, to make this a direct comparison, suppose we first make a big 6 bet for $6. For the big 6 at even money, if a 6 appears before a 7, we win $6. Now, let’s make a place 6 bet for $6. The casino payoff odds (i.E., not true odds) for a place 6 bet is 7:6, which means for every $6 multiple that we bet, we win $7. Therefore, for the $6 place 6 bet, if a 6 appears before a 7, we win $7. As you can see, if our bet amount for both bets is $6, the amount we win is different depending on whether we bet the big 6 or the place 6. If you hold $6 in your hand trying to decide which bet to make (i.E., trying to decide between making a big 6 bet or a place 6 bet), why would it require any thought at all on your part? If you can get $7 for a win with the place 6, why would you even consider making a big 6 bet that only pays $6 when you win? As noted earlier in this lesson, the only people who make the big 8 and big 6 bets are drunks and ignorant players. If you want to make a bet on the 8 or 6, always place it. Don’t ever make a big 8 or big 6 bet.
You can now go to the page that we list the craps bets or you can now head over to the table of contents to find more great content .
6 games you can win at the casino
- During seminars and general interactions I am constantly being asked how to win at the casino what are the casino games that can be beaten.
- Believe it or not, the answer is that every game can be vulnerable to a skilled practitioner of advantage play.
- Here we are going to take a look at 6 games and how you can attack them in a way that will give you the best chance to acctually win at the casino. They are:
The casino games that any player can beat are:
- Blackjack
- Craps
- Roulette
- Big six wheel
- Carnival card table games
- Slots
In order to win at the casino, I am going to take the games one at a time and give a big picture overview on the governing principle that each method of advantage play adheres too for the given game.
Note: though the ideas presented here are easy to understand the execution is complex and takes several months of intense training to implement them correctly. Reading just one article won't make you a winning player. Some of the tips are also applied for online casino games.
BLACKJACK
Why will you want to play blackjack? Because this is the first and most widely publicized game you beat the casino with, and for that matter you should learn how to play it in order to understand how to win it.
Card counting was introduced by professor edward thorp in 1962 in his classic book "beat the dealer". Card counting keeps track of the low to high card ratio of cards that remain in the deck and subsequently determines the advantage the player has over the house or vice versa. It’s a reliable method but also easily detectable by casino personal.
There are additional methods that have been used by players in the past and some are still applicable in today’s gaming environment while others have become sparse in their relevance. Shuffle tracking was popular in the mid 1990s but has countered by casinos with increasingly complex shuffles. Key card sequencing was a method used to predict when an ace would come out. This opportunity has also been reduced because of complexity of shuffles.
The last opportunity in blackjack is the rarest form and is hole carding. This is the technical art of determining of what the dealers down card is. I say this is a rare because it’s only found in approximately 1 in 80 dealers. And it’s not something that card cannot be determined every hand. Further complicating things is that you are not determining exactly what the card is. Often times you only get a glance at the pips of the cards. You then have to determine a strategy that is optimal by the narrowing of the card. Is the card a 10 value or not is a popular strategy. Is the card an 8 or a 9 are a few more examples. The strategy determination often requires computer simulations.
CRAPS
Craps is another game that can be attacked for profit. But as in blackjack, it requires a substantial time investment as well as a large financial investment in a full size craps table, and for that matter you have to learn how to play craps and practice.
What the aspiring craps AP practices is floating the dice to bank the back wall, and land how you want them to. This is most often in a way that limits the number of times a combination of dice that adds up to 7. Another way is to throw a dice in a way that the spins the dice on the horizontally that takes 5 numbers out of play on one dice. The player then bets accordingly. Steve fortes video series on gambling does a great job of showing how this is done, but like blackjack it takes substantial practice to pull off.
Another way to win at the casino at craps is to have a partner at the table and you bet pass line and your confederate bets the don’t pass line. The bets will offset each other 35 out of 36 rolls (on average). The betting portion is a negative expectation game but you more than make up for the loss with comp points.
ROULETTE
A player can beat roulette in a couple of different ways. The simplest way is similar to the offsetting bets that we discussed in craps. We will lose on average 2 of 36 spins, assuming the 2 players bet opposite one another in a red and black or 1-18 and 19-36 fashion. The proposition is a losing bet but similar to the craps bet we will make up for the losses in acquired comps.
Roulette prediction is another way to beat the wheel. It is tough, and like craps, you have to make a heavy investment in a roulette wheel. There are many intricacies that the successful player is going to have to account for but when you perfect the approach and you know what the roulette odds are, it is a very profitable game. The how to method is way beyond the scope of this article, but the best methodology found in the two book series by laurence scott.
BIG SIX WHEEL
The big six wheel is the large wheel where a pretty girl usually stands there and spins the wheel. The player hopes that the wheel of fortune like wheel lands on their bet to get the payout. To beat this game the player times the average spin of the wheel and then bets whatever of the two 40 to 1 long shots that the wheel is expected to stop closest too.
CARNIVAL CARD GAMES
To gain an advantage in these games you have to apply hole carding techniques. And similar to blackjack hole carding these are rare opportunities. And again like blackjack you have to develop a particular strategy. The best resource for finding determining the strategies is james grosjean’s book beyond counting exhibit CAA.
SLOT MACHINES
So, how can you win at slots? These are called the one arm bandits for a reason. It is because in almost all cases they take your money without apology. These games are high variance games, this means that 99% of the people lose and only 1% of the players will win money. But there are a couple ways to play that gives the player an advantage over the casino, and also this great article about slot tips.
The first is to play slots on triple point days. This is where the casino gives the player 3X the points that they would normally give. This will triples the comp value the player would earn.
The second method is to play with the casinos money. Every so often a casino will send a player $20, $50 or even $100 dollars in free play. The player then uses this money to play with and any money won during these free spins the player keeps.
To maximize the chance to win a player can log on to the gaming regulatory boards website of the jurisdiction and see what denomination slot machine has the loosest hold percentage, and play that machine.
SUMMARY
It is not an easy task to get the level where a player can be proficient enough to risk real dollars in order to win at the casino, but when the aspiring player puts forth the effort the rewards can be substantial. These broad brush strokes are meant to be a starting point for the aspiring player. A lot of hard work lies ahead. But be patient and work on your game and before you know it you will be there.
Slot machine tips, tricks and best strategies
Have you ever stumbled upon a scam website presenting a secret slot strategy which will make you a lot of money? Don’t expect anything like that in this article. Slots can’t be defeated in the long run.
Although slots are theoretically unbeatable, there were some cases of players able to legally or illegally take advantage of their weaknesses and make money. You can read more about them in my article how to beat slots.
Really useful slot strategies are actually about finding the balance among following factors:
- Chance to win
- Size of the winnings
- Cost
- Thrill
- Playing time
Every player looks for something else, so there is no ideal strategy that fits everyone. I will show you my strategies, each suitable for a different kind of players. Finding out which of them fits you best is up to you.
You’ll more likely understand how my strategies work when you have already understood the concepts of slots RTP and variance.
At first glance it seems online slot machines are a 100% game of chance. And they really are, at least in the terms of a single game round. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t influence your chances by using the right betting strategy and choosing the right game to play.
Here is a list of factors that define your slots betting strategy:
- How to determine a bet size
- Decision when to stop
- Selection of a slot game
- Decision when to use the gamble feature (red or black)
- Selected number of winlines
In the rest of this article I’ll teach you how to use the choices above to play slots more effectively.
While slot RTP and volatility apply to a single game round, the RTP and volatility of betting strategy apply to the whole game session or casino visit. The following article describes in detail what I mean by a betting strategy.
Tips & tricks for slots
All casino games, including slots, are disadvantageous for a player. Their RTP is lower than 100 % and they favor the casino. That means that you need luck to win, which is exactly why higher volatility is generally better for you.
Let me explain… in low-volatility games, the results over time tend to stay closer to the expected return, which is lower than 100 %. On the contrary, in high-volatility games, you are still losing money in the long run, however, you have a chance to win a big sum of money, thanks to the high volatility.
From a different perspective, you can win the same amount of money while placing smaller bets. If you place smaller bets with higher volatility, you will lose less in the long run, while also maintaining a chance to win big.
That’s why the majority of my slot tricks and strategies are based on increasing volatility, while also considering the game’s RTP.
Trick #1: avoid bet types which significantly decrease RTP
The majority of online slots have the same RTP for all kinds of bets. However, some slots derived from land-based slot games add significant disadvantage to certain bets. In this case you should always choose the bet type without the disadvantage. I will use two examples to demonstrate this fact.
Bet on all 3 winlines costs 2 cents and bet on 1 winline costs 1 cent. It’s quite obvious that bet on 1 line has a huge disadvantage and its RTP will be extremely low. Therefore, it is always beneficial to choose the bet of 2 cents.
Example 2: full bets unlock bonus features that double your win on three joker symbols. The game without this feature probably won’t have very attractive RTP. So either choose another slot or play the full bet with highest RTP.
Trick #2: use double up feature to regulate the volatility
The double up feature (red/black) gives you the option to double your win with a 50% chance. In some games (like slots from novomatic) you can do this multiple times in a row (13 I think).
This feature dramatically increases the volatility of the game. From a long-term perspective, you exchange a lot of smaller wins for proportionally fewer wins of higher value.
For example, without using the double up feature, you could win 40 times, winning $1 each time. However, if you used the double up feature up to 3 times, you could win 5 times, winning $8 each time. The long-term expected value is the same, but the individual wins are bigger.
If your goal is to win big, then double up feature is exactly what you need. It’s predictable and easy to simulate, I use it in some of my recommended slot strategies.
Note: be careful about using the double up feature when playing with bonus money, as it might be forbidden by the bonus terms and conditions. This applies also when playing with free spins no deposit bonuses, where your choice is also limited by the game for which you've received the free spins.
Trick #3: decrease the number of winlines to increase volatility
Did you know that if you set the game to 1 winline instead of 10, you’ll most likely get 5 to 10 times higher game volatility?
When you bet $2 on one line, your average win will be much higher (and less frequent) as when you bet $0.20 on 10 lines. When you bet on 10 lines at the same time, the wins in the paytable are 10 times smaller. In most slots you usually hit a winning combination only on a small number of the 10 lines, so your average wins are also lower.
Note that this trick usually can’t be used by high rollers, as the maximum bet per line is usually restricted. But there are also slots which are an exception – like cleopatra from IGT.
However, if you are a player who doesn’t bet more than $2 in a single round, this trick is a must-have.
How to win big on slots
The simple answer to this question is – you have to risk big to win big. However, if you want to win big with highest possible odds, you have to push the volatility of your strategy up to the sky.
Controversially, the most effective way to WIN BIG is to try to lose as fast as possible. That doesn’t make sense, does it? Let me explain.
Statistically (in the long run), you lose money with every bet you place. That is how the RTP works. To lose less in the long run, you have to minimize the total sum of your bets. To minimize the total sum of your bets, you have to try to lose your budget with as little betting as possible. If you do so and RTP remains the same, the principles of statistics reward you with a better chance for a big win.
Slot machine betting strategies
Now for my favorite part of the casino.Guru website. Slot math is really my passion and some of the strategies below were invented by me independently from strategies published on other websites. I tested each of them with my own simulation software using reverse-engineered slot games. Any sharing is appreciated :).
"smart gambler" – gamble up to desired win
- Volatility: variable
- RTP: very high (up to 96%)
- Time of play: variable
Smart gambler is my favorite slot betting strategy. I derived the name from the "gamble button" that gives you chance to double your win with a 50 % chance.
The main idea of the smart gambler strategy is this:
You spin with very small bets. When you hit a winning combination, you start doubling up the win using the gamble button. You keep doubling up until you either miss and lose, or until you win that high amount that you can happily withdraw and leave.
The smart gambler strategy is almost ideal. It has very high RTP, while it also allows you to choose the size of win and how long you will be able to play with your budget.
Here is a step by step guide how to play smart gambler strategy:
- Choose a slot which has a gamble feature.
- Decide how long you would like to play. Divide this time by the average game round time and you’ll get the approximate number of game rounds.
You want to play for 1 hour = 60 x 60 = 3600 seconds. If one round takes around 4 seconds, then you actually want to play 3600 / 4 = 900 game rounds.
- If your selected game has restricted maximal number of double-ups, then I recommend you increase the game’s volatility by configuring just one winline (with the same total bet). With this strategy, you will avoid the low initial wins that you can’t double up to your desired win.
- If your budget is very low, you can even play on one winline for 1 cent. With my smart gambler strategy and an adequate amount of luck, you can still win big.
- Playing slots is not a race. You can play faster with a lower initial bet or enjoy one spin a little longer with higher initial bets. It’s up to you.
Now you probably wonder, how this strategy is doing in terms of betting system RTP.
It's doing awesome!
Here’s the explanation. You only do two types of bet. The initial spin costs you statistically 100 % minus the RTP of the game. If a game’s RTP is 96 %, it means that the initial spin will cost you only:
100% - 96% = 4% of the bet
That’s just $4 for a one-hour-long gaming session with a $100 budget and a $0.10 initial bet. The double up bet has a win probability of 50 % which gives it a 100 % RTP. In other words, the double up bet costs you nothing in the long run. Therefore,
"the RTP of my smart gambler betting system is (in an ideal scenario) equal to RTP of the selected slot game."
Note that this betting system still doesn’t guarantee you will win, but gives you a fair chance.
Simulation of the smart gambler strategy
The following tables show the results of a million player simulations using my smart gambler strategy. The simulation was completed on a slot with 96 % RTP. The variables were the desired win and the maximum number of allowed double ups.
If the win was lower than expected, then the whole win was placed on roulette. A budget of $100 with a $0.10 initial bet gives you 1000 rounds – around 60 to 90 minutes of playing.
| Max. Allowed double-ups | desired win | % of winners | average win | strategy RTP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | $1000 | 6.53% | $1415 | 92.5% |
| 8 | $1000 | 6.52% | $1448 | 94.5% |
| 16 | $1000 | 6.83% | $1401 | 95.8% |
| no limit | $1000 | 6.86% | $1402 | 96.14% |
| 4 | $10000 | 0.67% | $13546 | 91.1% |
| 8 | $10000 | 0.64% | $14436 | 92.34% |
| 16 | $10000 | 0.67% | $14189 | 95.5% |
| no limit | $10000 | 0.69% | $13892 | 96.35% |
| 4 | $50000 | 0.125% | $70601 | 88.64% |
| 8 | $50000 | 0.13% | $70275 | 91.3% |
| 16 | $50000 | 0.128% | $73317 | 94.12% |
| no limit | $50000 | 0.145% | $66786 | 96.75% |
Simulations prove that RTP of this betting strategy is very high. RTP increases with higher number of allowed double ups, as no additional roulette bets are required. For unlimited number of double-ups, the RTP is equal to the game’s RTP (small differences in measured RTP occur due to extreme volatility in this strategy).
Simulations show the smart gambler strategy keeps fair chances even when aiming for a giant win (500x the entire budget). However, the chances of such a big win are proportionally low. Be very careful and don’t fall in to the "I’ll once win my money back" loop. A healthy target is something around 5x-20x your daily budget.
For all the reasons mentioned I consider this to be THE BEST SLOTS STRATEGY (apart from not playing at all).
Here are slots suitable for my smart gambler strategy:
- Book of dead (playtech)
- Novomatic slots (such as book of ra)
"moonshot" – the ultimate all in strategy with IGT slots
- Volatility: extreme
- RTP of betting system: very high (93%-96%)
- Time of play: extremely short
This is the craziest and the most volatile strategy I could figure out amongst all casino games. It’s similar to betting "all in" on a number in roulette… just MORE volatile.
Some slots made by IGT allow you to make a huge bet on a single winline. If you first decrease the number of winlines to one, then the game allows you to increase the bet on that line up to the total maximum allowed bet. In some slots this can be up to $100.
With a $100 bet on a single line at diamond queen slot, your potential wins range from $500 to $100k.
As a result, you either lose everything in just a few spins or win an amount in the range from nice to legendary.
You remember, right? The less you bet in total, the higher is the RTP of your betting strategy. That’s how this strategy works. If you go all in and leave with a win, then the RTP of your betting strategy equals to the RTP of the game. In the case of diamond queen, it’s (according to the game’s paytable) between 92.97% and 96.08%. In case of cleopatra, it’s around 95%.
So your one-spin "session" would statistically cost you only $5-$7 (in the long run). The rest would be eventually paid out to winners who use the same strategy.
I have found three slots which support this feature: diamond queen, wolf run and cleopatra. Cleopatra offers the highest possible win – 10 000 times the bet. However, I would choose diamond queen, as it seems more balanced.
There are 3 things to remember with this strategy:
- IGT slots cap the maximum win to $250k. So, if you bet $100 on single line in cleopatra, you risk that you’ll win $1 million, but only get $250k.
- Don’t risk a high win in a casino which can’t afford to pay it out. Use this strategy only in huge casinos with monthly revenues over $1 million like leovegas.
- Never exceed your initial budget. Spin and leave when you’ve reached your budget. Don’t use this strategy if you’ve had any sort of gambling problems in the past.
If you were crazy enough to try this strategy and then managed to hit it big, please let me know. I’ll share your story.
P.S.: I plan to reverse engineer diamond queen and calculate the chances for different win sizes.
"reverse martingale" – reinvest the win strategy
- Volatility: high
- RTP of betting system: high
- Time of play: variable
Reverse martingale is a good betting strategy if your favorite slot doesn’t have a double-up feature. Do you know the roulette betting strategy called martingale? Reverse martingale does the opposite.
Martingale betting strategy (actually doesn’t work) suggests you to double up your bet after each loss. The idea is that once you have to win and then you’ll win back all your former bets. In reality, your bets grow exponentially and you risk your whole available bankroll in order to win just the initial bet. If you keep using the martingale strategy, you’ll go bankrupt eventually.
The main idea of reverse martingale is to play for small initial bets and bet the entire win in the next round until you win big enough. This strategy is similar to the smart gambler strategy, but it uses increased bets instead of the double up feature.
You start with $100 and bet an initial bet of $0.10. After 15 rounds lost, you suddenly win $4.41. The next round you bet the closest possible amount to your win – in this case $4.40. If you lose, then you continue with the initial bet. If you win again – for example $35, then continue with a $35 spin. If you lose, you get back to betting $0.10 each round. Repeat this until you win a satisfying amount or lose your entire budget.
If your win exceeds the maximum bet in the slot which you are currently playing, start placing the maximum bets. Be careful to not spend more than you have won in the previous round. Otherwise you’ll lose big part of your budget and significantly shorten your time of play.
The reverse martingale has slightly lower volatility and lower overall RTP than smart gambler, but its advantage is that you can use any slot that you like, even if it doesn’t have the gamble feature.
You can use any slot you like with the reverse martingale strategy, unlike with the two aforementioned strategies.
Also, the time of play is predictable and you can easily estimate it from the initial bet and your budget.
Time of play = (your budget / initial bet) * 1.3 * 4 seconds
The win amount is less predictable than with the smart gambler strategy, but more predictable than the casual player strategy or the moonshot strategy.
Reverse martingale strategy doesn’t work that well for high rollers, as they’ll hit the maximum bet of a slot quite often.
Tips for reverse martingale strategy:
- When you hit a win with your initial bet, write down your current balance (before the win is added to it). This will help you to do the proper math and you’ll be less likely to exceed the bet which would lead to losing the balance dedicated for the small initial bets.
- If possible, configure the slot to only one winline. The increased volatility plays in your favor.
Simulation of the reverse martingale strategy
The following tables show the results of a million player simulation using the reverse martingale strategy. I made the simulations on a 96 % RTP medium variance slot with a $50 maximum bet per round. Each simulation was a session of 1000 rounds with basic bet + additional rounds, so players either lost the entire budget or won a satisfying amount.
I was experimenting with various parameters for the initial bet (budget) and satisfying wins.
| Initial bet (budget) | min. Satisfying win | % of winners | average win | strategy RTP | average # of rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $0.10 ($100) | +$500 | 11.5% | +$1050 | 85.04% | 1271 |
| $0.10 ($100) | +$1000 | 4.4% | +$1766 | 82.15% | 1293 |
| $0.10 ($100) | +$5000 | 1.09% | +$6506 | 71.91% | 1321 |
| $0.10 ($100) | +$10000 | 0.5% | +$11862 | 62.7% | 1331 |
| $0.10 ($100) | +$50000 | 0.028% | +$51938 | 14.57% | 1360 |
| $0.20 ($200) | +$500 | 13.5% | +$1074 | 86.25% | 1210 |
| $0.20 ($200) | +$1000 | 8.5% | +$1770 | 83.6% | 1249 |
| $0.20 ($200) | +$5000 | 2.1% | +$6500 | 72.9% | 1304 |
| $0.20 ($200) | +$10000 | 1.01% | +$11781 | 60.72% | 1324 |
| $0.20 ($200) | +$50000 | 0.05% | +$52060 | 14.44% | 1382 |
| $0.50 ($500) | +$1000 | 18.49% | +$1813 | 85.56% | 1175 |
| $0.50 ($500) | +$5000 | 5.25% | +$6515 | 73.66% | 1301 |
| $0.50 ($500) | +$10000 | 2.52% | +$11782 | 61.9% | 1350 |
| $0.50 ($500) | +$50000 | 0.13% | +$51840 | 13.82% | 1499 |
| $1 ($1000) | +$5000 | 9.86% | +$6522 | 74.2% | 1306 |
| $1 ($1000) | +$10000 | 4.96% | +$11807 | 63.58% | 1400 |
| $1 ($1000) | +$50000 | 0.27% | +$52056 | 14.07% | 1703 |
| $1 ($1000) | +$100000 | 0.0135% | +$106272 | 1.45% | 1775 |
| $5 ($5000) | +$10000 | 19.12% | +$11804 | 64.26% | 1967 |
| $5 ($5000) | +$50000 | 1.22% | +$51850 | 13.84% | 3475 |
| $5 ($5000) | +$100000 | 0.07% | +$102430 | 1.5% | 3837 |
| $5 ($5000) | +$500000 | - | - | - | 3879 |
| $10 ($10000) | +$50000 | 2.15% | +$51770 | 13.26% | 5756 |
| $10 ($10000) | +$100000 | 0.124% | +$101947 | 1.39% | 6446 |
| $10 ($10000) | +$500000 | - | - | - | 6521 |
The simulations above illustrate how effective this strategy is when playing with a smaller initial budget. They also illustrate how it becomes ineffective when initial bet gets closer to the slot’s maximum bet.
Your chance to win 10x your budget is 4.4% with $100 budget and $0.10 basic bet. With $5000 budget and 5$ bet (same proportion) this chance drops to 1.22% and for $10 000/$10 drops even further to 0.124%. Out of one million high rollers who started with $10 000 and played with $10 initial bet, none of them managed to get over $500 000.
The reverse martingale strategy works properly only if the maximum bet is at least 100x-200x higher than the basic bet. That’s true for the majority of casual players.True high rollers who desire high RTP and extreme wins should look for a different strategy.
Note that for budgets and basic bets with which this strategy actually works, the average number of rounds played is around 1300. That’s 1.3x more than rounds played with initial bets. This explains the 1.3 coefficient in time of play formula above.
"casual player" – constant bet strategy
- Volatility: depends on slot and bet size
- RTP of betting system: depends on bet size and satisfying win
- Time of play: depends on bet size and satisfying win
The strategy which I call "casual player" is one of the simplest strategies you can use. You start spinning with a certain bet size and keep spinning with same bet until you lose everything, win enough or decide to stop after certain amount of time.
This strategy is used by many casino players. I have decided to analyze it mainly to illustrate how ineffective it is compared to my strategies.
Let’s start by defining "the casual player". I know that many players change the bet size according to their intuition or increase the bet when they are on a lucky streak, but for the sake of simplicity, I’ll keep the bet the same during the entire simulation.
So let’s describe our casual player as a player who:
- Starts with a budget of $(A)
- Bets $(B) per round
- Stops playing when wins more than $(C)
- And plays max. (D) number of rounds
Simulation of the casual player strategy
For each setup I simulated one million players with the same 96% RTP medium variance slot. Normal gaming session may take 1-2 hours, so I have decided to fix (D) to 1500 rounds (number of rounds after which player leaves regardless of his current bankroll). Then I have experimented with a $100 budget.
Note: most slots work in a way that a win is always proportional to the bet. So the simulation using a $1 bet, $100 budget and $500 desired win will return the same results as the one with $10 bet, $1000 budget and $5000 desired win. Therefore, I made all the simulations with a $100 budget and I changed only the bet and the satisfying win.
Here are the tables with simulations for $100 budget and max. 1500 rounds. There are 3 tables with satisfying wins of $200, $1000 and $5000 respectively.
| Bet | % of players with satisfying win | % of losers (avg. Loss) | % of winners (avg. Win) | strategy RTP | average # of rounds | thrill factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $0.10 | 0% | 64.85% ($16) | 35.15% ($14) | 94.6% | 1500 | very low |
| $0.50 | 2.96% | 66.23% ($72) | 33.77% ($73) | 76.67% | 1294 | low |
| $1 | 15.2% | 74.47% ($94) | 25.5% ($169) | 72.81% | 754 | medium |
| $5 | 21% | 79% ($100) | 21% ($312) | 88.4% | 64 | high |
| $10 | 19% | 81% ($100) | 19% ($375) | 91.88% | 23 | high |
Simulations of the casual player strategy, $200 satisfying win
| bet | % of players with satisfying win | % of losers (avg. Loss) | % of winners (avg. Win) | strategy RTP | average # of rounds | thrill factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $0.50 | 0% | 66.26% ($73) | 33.74% ($72) | 76.33% | 1311 | low |
| $1 | 0.005% | 75.4% ($94) | 24.6% ($159) | 68.3% | 883 | medium |
| $2 | 0.75% | 86% ($99) | 14% ($357) | 63% | 502 | medium |
| $5 | 4.9% | 94% ($100) | 6% ($1022) | 69% | 172 | high |
| $10 | 5.7% | 94.3% ($100) | 5.7% ($1303) | 79.6% | 56 | very high |
Simulations of the casual player strategy, $1000 satisfying win
| bet | % of players with satisfying win | % of losers (avg. Loss) | % of winners (avg. Win) | strategy RTP | average # of rounds | thrill factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1 | 0% | 75.3% ($94) | 24.6% ($158) | 68% | 882 | medium |
| $5 | 0.003% | 94.3% ($100) | 5.7% ($978) | 60.6% | 219 | high |
| $10 | 0.21% | 97.2% ($100) | 2.8% ($2044) | 59.7% | 111 | very high |
| $20 | 0.94% | 98.5% ($100) | 1.5% ($4437) | 65.8% | 48 | very high |
| $50 | 1.21% | 98.79% ($100) | 1.21% ($6533) | 80.5% | 11 | extreme |
| $100 | 1.17% | 98.83% ($100) | 1.17% ($7291) | 86.5% | 3 | extreme |
When you look at the table above, you can find everything a good strategy should have:
- High RTP
- High wins and thrill factor
- Adequate time of play
The problem is that at the same time you can have only two of those things.
- You can bet $10/spin, have nice RTP and aim for very high wins, but your gaming session will likely end within few minutes.
- You can bet $0.1/spin, kill time and not spend much money, but your chance to win more than just few dollars is minimal.
- Or you can bet $2/spin, aim for medium wins and play for half an hour in average, but you have to accept a low strategy RTP.
The play time with constant bet strategy is unpredictable. The average play time value might look good at first glance, but in reality it’s highly biased because of the lucky players who managed to play until the end. Following chart illustrates that for $2/spin and a $1000 satisfying win setup.
You can clearly see that 55% of players ran out of their respective budgets within the first 300 rounds. The chance that you’ll lose your budget sooner than you intended is very high. This increases the risk of exceeding your budget, which is one of the signals of pathological gamblers.
The analyzed setup with $2 bets is the one with the most balanced time of play. The setup with a bet of $5 per spin is even more unbalanced with 80% of players losing their budgets within the first 200 rounds.
While unpredictable play time may be considered as clear negative, the unpredictable win size may increase the fun. Following plot displays the distribution of net wins/losses in my million player simulation.
I have intentionally omitted players who lost everything because there would be a huge spike at the beginning of the chart. The distribution reminds me of a "gauss curve". The spike at $1000 value reminds how important is to know when to stop.
My next chart illustrates the distribution of wins/losses without the satisfying win rule.
This chart resembles "gauss curve" even more. The "know when to stop" spike is flattened.
Conclusions
The constant bet strategy is the simplest betting strategy there is. You can achieve different results by choosing a different bet size, but you’ll never have good results like with the smart gambler strategy or the reverse martingale strategy. The biggest difference is in the time of play. With constant bet, the time of play is quite short and unpredictable.
Also, if you aim for a giant win, choosing a different strategy is a must. You will almost certainly not get there with the casual player strategy.
I can recommend casual player strategy only to those players who wish to kill time with low bets, low losses and even lower wins. In that case, I recommend placing one thousandth of your evening budget per spin.
"my mom’s strategy"
- Volatility: zero
- RTP of betting system: 100%
- Time of play: none
The optimal strategy of playing slots is surprisingly the simplest one. Don’t play them at all. I can call this "my mum’s strategy", because I knew that if I asked her which strategy she would use to play slots, she would tell me "I wouldn’t play slots at all". So I have asked her and she really gave me this answer.
Mathematically, she is right. This is the only strategy with a 100% RTP. I made a computer simulation of million players who went to the casino and haven’t played slots. The simulation confirmed that none of the players lost anything so the theoretical RTP of this strategy is really 100%.
The disadvantage of my mum’s strategy is absolutely no thrill factor as obviously you can’t win anything. Also, zero time of play may be problem in some brick and mortar casinos or gaming venues which require you to play once you are in. The solution for this might be to find some other excitement in your life. Money spared on gambling give you countless options ;).
G aming G uru
Big wheel, stay clear
In my Q&A column a few weeks ago, I answered a reader’s question on the big six wheel, and explained that the high house edge doesn’t make it a candidate for repeated play.
That brought this inquiry from another reader, who didn’t quite understand the answer. “the big wheel – how can you lose?” she wrote. “the payoffs are for 1-1 to 45-1. If the worst bet pays even money; maybe it’s one for one, and 24 bets break even. All others win money. Could you explain it better? I don't get it.”
She didn’t understand that every possible space on the wheel is a winner if you bet on it, and the house still makes money. It’s the same situation as roulette, where every number is a potential winner, or craps, where every possible combination of two dice can win if you bet on the right number or combination.
Let’s take the big six wheel, were there usually are 54 spaces. Typically, 24 spaces are filled by $1 bills, 15 with $2, seven with $5, four with $10, two with $20, one with an eagle or other special symbol, and the other with a casino logo or another symbol. The currency spaces are paid in proportion to their values — $1 spaces pay 1-1, $2 spaces pay 2-1, and so on. The eagle space pays 40-1 on most wheels, but often 45-1 in atlantic city, and the casino logo space also pays 40-1, or 45-1 in A.C.
Now let’s say we have a giant table surrounding the wheel, seating 54 players, or that there are 54 remote electronic betting terminals linked to the wheel. Each player bets $1 per spin, and to demonstrate how the house get its edge, we’ll say bets are made in proportion to the spaces on the wheel, so that 24 players bet on $1, 15 bet on $2 and so on.
On any given spin, $54 is wagered. If the wheel stops on the $1 space, the 24 players who bet on it get their $1 bet back and get $1 each in winnings, so that altogether they collect $48. The other $6 goes to the house.
If the wheel stops on the $2 space, the 15 winners each collect $3 – their $1 bet plus $2 in winnings. That’s a total of $45, and the house keeps $9. If it stops on $5, the seven winners get a total of $42, and the house keeps $12. On $10, the four winners get $44, the house keeps $8. On $20, the two winners get $42, with $12 to the house. On either the eagle or the casino logo, the single winner gets either $41 or $46, depending on whether it pays 40-1 or 45-1, and the casino keeps either $13 or $8.
No matter which number wins, the house makes a profit. At a real table with fewer players, not every number is going to draw wagers at once, and there can be short streaks where players make profits. But the house can be comfortable knowing it has a large edge on every possible wager, and will make money with repeated play.
Let’s try single-number bets on a double-zero roulette wheel as another example. There are 38 numbers, 1 through 36 plus 0 and 00. Let’s say we have 38 players each betting $1 on a different number so all 38 numbers are covered. On each spin, they risk a total of $38. No matter which number the ball lands on, the winner collects a 35-1 payoff, or a total of $36. The house keeps the other $2. That’s the house edge, and the house has that edge even though every possible wager is a potential winner.
The key is that the house pays less than true odds to winners. It pays 1-1 on winning $1 bets on big six, but the true odds against winning the bet are 30-24, which reduces to 5-4, or 1.25-1. It pays 20-1 on winning bets on the $20 space, but the true odds are 52-2, or 26-1. It pays 35-1 on winning single number bets at roulette, but the true odds are 37-1.
By paying less that true odds, the house ensures that it will make money as long as the outcomes remain in proportion to the odds of the game. If a roulette wheel was badly out of balance so that a number came up more often than once per 36 spins, it would open the potential for a sharp bettor to beat the game. Likewise, if a big six wheel was out of balance, or had an obstruction that caused the wheel to stop on $1 spaces more than half the time, a bettor who noticed the imbalance could make hay.
But those are rare circumstances. As a matter of course, the casino doesn’t care which numbers you bet on, because it knows it will be the long-term winner on every one.
3 CARD POKER STRATEGY
As easy as three card poker is to play, getting the most out of the game requires understanding the odds and learning a simple strategy. In this chapter, you’ll learn the frequency of winning hands, pay tables and odds for pair plus, and basic strategy for the ante-play combination.
PAIR PLUS ODDS
When you bet on pair plus in online casinos or live casinos, you win any time your three cards include a pair, flush, straight, three of a kind or straight flush.
There are 22,100 possible three-card combinations in which card order doesn’t matter.
Here are the numbers of combinations for each hand rank:
| Hand | example | number of hands |
| straight flush | ♦ 7 ♦ 8 ♦ 9 7, 8, 9 of diamonds | 48 |
| three of a kind | ♥ 10 ♣ 10 ♠10 10 of hearts, 10 of clubs, 10 of spades | 52 |
| straight | ♦ 6 ♠7 ♥ 8 6 of diamonds, 7 of spades, 8 of hearts | 720 |
| flush | ♥ K ♥ 9 ♥ 3 king of hearts, 9 of hearts, 3 of hearts | 1,096 |
| pair | ♠2 ♣2 ♥ 8 2 of spades, 2 of clubs, 8 of hearts | 3,744 |
| no pair or better (losing hands in pair plus) | ♣Q ♥ 9 ♦ 3 queen of clubs, 9 of hearts, 3 of diamonds | 16,440 |
Note that flushes occur more often than straights. That’s why in pair plus, straights pay more than flushes, as you’ll see below. Some casinos add a mini-royal to the top of the pay table. Mini-royals consist of ace, king and queen of the same suit. There are four mini-royals – one for each suit. Paying the mini-royals separately subtracts four combinations from the straight flush total.
In casinos that pay mini-royals separately, the frequency of pair plus hands looks like this:
| Mini-royal | ♠A ♠K ♠Q ace, king, queen of spades | 4 |
| straight flush | ♦ 7 ♦ 8 ♦ 9 7, 8, 9 of diamonds | 44 |
| three of a kind | ♥ 10 ♣10 ♠10 10 of hearts, 10 of clubs, 10 of spades | 52 |
| straight | ♦ 6 ♠7 ♥ 8 6 of diamonds, 7 of spades, 8 of hearts | 720 |
| flush | ♥ K ♥ 9 ♥ 3 king of hearts, 9 of hearts, 3 of hearts | 1,096 |
| pair | ♠2 ♣2 ♥ 8 2 of spades, 2 of clubs, 8 of hearts | 3,744 |
| no pair or better (losing hands in pair plus) | ♣Q ♥ 9 ♦ 3 queen of clubs, 9 of hearts, 3 of diamonds | 16,440 |
Regardless of whether the casino where you play pays mini-royals separately, winning hands make up 25.6 percent of the total.
You wouldn’t play a game that you won only a quarter of the time if there wasn’t the possibility of the big rewards.
In pair plus, the big rewards come when you’re dealt a straight flush or three of a kind, or in some casinos, a mini-royal.Payoffs may vary in different casinos, but all start at 1-1 on a pair. At the top of the pay table, a straight flush usually brings a 40-1 payoff and three of a kind brings 30-1. Mini-royals can pay 50-1, 100-1 or even 200-1.
A 40-1 payoff means that if you bet $5 and are dealt a straight flush, you collect $200 in winnings and keep your $5 wager. A 100-1 mini-royal would pay a $5 bettor $500, plus the bettor would keep his wager. The big-paying hands don’t pay as much as those in five-card games, but they occur more often. Five-card royal flushes occur once per 649,740 hands.
Here’s the frequency of paying hands in pair plus:
| Paying hand | frequency |
| mini-royal | 1 in 5,525 |
| straight flush in game with mini-royal | 1 in 502 |
| straight flush in game without mini-royal | 1 in 460 |
| three of a kind | 1 in 425 |
| straight | 1 in 31 |
| flush | 1 in 20 |
| pair | 1 in 6 |
When three card poker was invented, there was one available pay table for pair plus. You’d get 40-1 on a straight flush, 30-1 on three of a kind, 6-1 on a straight, 4-`1 on a flush and 1-1 on a pair for a house edge of 2.32 percent.
That pay table is rare today, both in live casinos and online casinos. Here’s a sampling of available pay tables and house edges:
| Hand | A | B | C | D | E | F |
| mini-royal | 100-1 | 50-1 | 50-1 | --- | --- | --- |
| straight flush | 40-1 | 40-1 | 40-1 | 40-1 | 40-1 | 35-1 |
| three of a kind | 30-1 | 30-1 | 30-1 | 30-1 | 30-1 | 25-1 |
| straight | 5-1 | 5-1 | 6-1 | 6-1 | 5-1 | 6-1 |
| flush | 4-1 | 4-1 | 3-1 | 3-1 | 4-1 | 4-1 |
| pair | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 |
| house edge | 4.49% | 5.39% | 7.10% | 7.28% | 5.57% | 4.58% |
In live casinos, the most common pay table is D, with a 6-1 payoff on straights and 3-1 on flushes. In online casinos, you’ll find some casinos with that 6-3 table, and others that pay 5-1 on straights and 4-1 on flushes.
If you have a choice, you’d rather have the 5-4 pay table. That’s because flushes occur more often with straights. You gain more with a 4-1 payoff instead of 3-1 on flushes than you would with a 6-1 pay instead of 5-1 on straights.
You don’t have to beat the dealer in pair plus, and there’s nothing you can do to change the cards you are dealt.
That means the primary skill in pair plus is seeking out the most favorable pay tables.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- About 25.6 percent of hands are winning combinations of a pair or better.
- Pay tables vary in different casinos, but all start at 1-1 payoffs on a pair.
- When comparing pay table, you gain more with bigger payoffs on more frequent hands, so games that pay 5-4 on straights and 4-1 on flushes have lower house edges than games that pay 6-1 on straights and 3-1 on flushes.
ANTE-PLAY ODDS AND STRATEGY
The ante-play combination is a bet that your hand will beat the dealer’s.
As you’ll remember from chapter 1, you begin with an ante. After you’ve seen your cards, you may either fold or make a play bet equal to your ante. If you bet and the dealer does not have queen or better, the dealer does not play. You win a 1-1 payoff on your ante and your bet pushes, regardless of whether your hand beats the dealer. If the dealer has queen or better, he plays. Then you must beat the dealer to win. If you win, you’re paid 1-1 on both ante and play bet. If you lose, the dealer takes both your ante and bet. Ranking of most hands is the same as in three card poker, with mini-royal and straight flush at the top of the list, followed by three of a kind, straight, flush and pair.
However, for purposes of beating the dealer, hands that do not include a pair or better are ranked first by the highest card in the hand.
If your highest card and the dealer’s highest card the same, the tie is broken by the second-highest card.
If your highest and second-highest cards are the same, the tie is broken by the third-highest card.
If all three cards are the same, the hand is a tie and your bets are returned to you.
Here are some sample hands:
| Dealer hand | player hand | winner |
| ♦ K ♠Q ♣9 king of diamonds, queen of spades, 9 of clubs | ♣Q ♥ 9 ♦ 6 queen of clubs, 9 of hearts, 6 of diamonds | dealer, because queens are tied but 10 beats 9 |
| ♣A ♥ 8 ♦ 4 ace of clubs, 8 of hearts, 4 of diamonds | Player, because ace-8s are tied but 5 beats 4 | |
| ♥ K ♣7 ♦ 2 king of hearts, 7 of clubs, 2 of diamonds | ♦ K ♠7 ♥ 2 king of diamonds, 7 of spades, 2 of hearts | tie; bets push |
ANTE-PLAY STRATEGY
Basic strategy for the ante-play combination is to bet whenever you have queen-6-4 or better. Fold if your hand is not at least that high. That means you bet on any pair or better – if it’s a winner on the pair plus pay table, make the bet in the ante-play combo. If you don’t have a pair or better, make the play bet any time your high card is an ace or a king, no matter how high your other two cards are.
If your high card is a jack or lower, fold, no matter how high your other two cards are.
The dividing line comes when you do not have a pair or better and your highest card is a queen. In that case the decision depends on your second card, and sometimes on your third.
Here are the basic strategy guidelines for making the play bet if you have no pair or better and your high card is a queen.
- Bet on a queen-high hand if your second highest card is a 7 or higher, no matter what your third card is.
- Bet on a queen-high hand if your second-highest card is a 6 only if your third card is a 4 or a 5.
- Fold a queen-high hand if your second-highest card is a 6 if your third card is a 2 or a 3.
- Fold a queen-high hand if your second-highest card is a 5 or lower, no matter what your third card is.
Here are a few sample hands near the dividing line:
THE ANTE BONUS AND THE HOUSE EDGE
In order to calculate the house edge, one more piece of the game needs to be taken into account. There is an ante bonus paid any time your hand has a straight, three of a kind or straight flush.
The bonuses are paid on your ante, and the play bet does not figure into the bonuses. If you hand is good enough, you win the ante bonus even if you don’t beat the dealer.
The table below includes common pay tables for the ante bonus and the overall house edge for the ante-play combination.
| Hand | A | B | C |
| straight flush | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| three of a kind | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| straight | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| house edge as percentage of ante | 3.37% | 3.83% | 4.28% |
| house edge as percentage of ante-bet total | 2.01% | 2.28% | 5.26% |
The most common pay table is the best, the 5-4-1 payoffs that were originally designed into the game.
The two house edges tell you different things about the game.
House edge as a percentage of the ante sets a baseline for average losses. If you were always to ante $5 a hand, your losses would average a little less than 17 cents per hand. In 100 hands with $5 antes, if you played the queen-6-4 basic strategy, you would expect an average loss of $16.85. However, that strategy includes making a play bet equal to your ante about two-thirds of the time. If you start with $5 antes, then in 100 hands you still will average $16.85 in losses, but your ante-play wagering total will be a little more than $840. The 2.01 percent house edge is the percentage of that wagering total that the house expects to keep. That makes the three card poker ante-play combination one of the better casino bets. Blackjack basic strategy players face a house edge of less than 1 percent, and so do craps players who bet the pass-plus-odds combination. The house edge of 1.06 percent on banker and 1.24 percent on player in baccarat also is lower.
However, three card poker ante-play has a lower house edge than double-zero roulette (5.26 percent), single-zero roulette (2.7 percent), caribbean stud (5.22 percent of ante, 2.6 percent of total action), craps one-roll bets (2.78 percent-16.67 percent) and many other games.
Three card poker is a game that gives you a reasonable shot to win and the chance at some big payoffs that can lead to a nice winning session.
Casino gambling strategy
Now that’s not the end of what I hope to accomplish on this page. After getting the definitions out of the way, I’m hoping to synthesize those three definitions into something useful–a strategy that you can use to get the most enjoyment out of your gambling hobby.
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What is a casino?
A casino is a building where gambling goes on. That’s a broad definition, but it’s an accurate one. It’s also a little bit out-of-date, because now that there is an internet, a website could also be considered a casino, or even just a software program on a computer or an iphone. In those cases, the website or software replace the building.
If you think about it for a minute, a lot of places that you didn’t think of as casinos are actually casinos. For example, you can’t turn a corner in the airport in las vegas without bumping into a slot machine. That means that the airport there is also a casino.
In a lot of states, video poker machines are commonly found in bars. That makes those bars casinos also.
A bingo hall is also a casino. Playing bingo is gambling, albeit a very socially acceptable form of gambling. Some churches offer bingo, and when they do, they’re not just a church–they’re also a casino.
Some places only offer poker. They’re called cardroom or poker rooms. Even if they don’t offer what you might consider “traditional” casino games like roulette, blackjack, or slot machines, poker cardrooms are still considered casinos.
Even a horsetrack or a dogtrack can be considered a casino.
Why go into this much detail about how many different places fall under the definition of casino? Because it clarifies why the content on this site covers so many diverse subjects.
Picking the right casino games to gamble on
Picking the right casino game helps a player stretch their bankroll, increasing one’s excitement and enjoyment while betting. Below is the house edge of the most popular casino games. The lowest house edge equals the right bet to choose. Many rules affect blackjack odds, so I use vegas strip blackjack where blackjack pays 3:2, doubling is allowed, the dealer stands on soft 17, and splitting to four hands is allowed.
- Single-zero roulette: 2.70%
- Double-zero roulette: 5.26%
- Single-deck blackjack: 0.50%
- 2-deck blackjack: 0.78%
- 6-deck blackjack: 0.91%
- 8-deck blackjack: 0.97%
- Craps: come/pass line bet: 1.41%
- Craps: don’t come/don’t pass bet: 1.36%
- Craps: any seven bet: 16.67%
- Baccarat: banker bet: 1.06%
- Baccarat: player bet: 1.24%
- Baccarat: tie bet: 14.36%
Best online gambling sites
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How to win casino games
Using time-tested betting strategies is the best way to win at casino games. For instance, basic strategy in blackjack provides the player with the optimal play in each scenario. In other games, no strategy exists besides finding the best bets in the game and using a winning betting system to manage your bankroll. Avoid the trendy betting systems like the martingale, but instead use bankroll management to assure you limit losses when the game doesn’t go your way and lock in winnings when you’re on a winning streak.
What is gambling?
Gambling is when you wager money on games of chance or skill. It’s not the chance element that makes the activity gambling; it’s the betting of the money on the outcome of something.
For example, if you bet $20 on a game of billiards, you’re gambling, even though it’s a game of skill.
Legal definitions about gambling on games of skill and gambling on games of chance can vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but gambling is gambling.
Gambling tips to win
Do your research, because there are online casino tips for winning that you can follow to boost your chances of winning and lower your risk of ruin. Casinos have a house edge in most games, which you should consider the price of entertainment. The great thing about gambling is you have a chance to win back the price of admission and then some. The casino winning tips below should give you a start on your research.
Use rewards and bonuses: never turn down comps of any kind. Always accept bonus offers, player rewards, and other promotions. Nothing lowers the house edge more than free money, so never play without using sliding your slots card into the machine or without inputting a coupon code you have.
Choose a win goal: “win goal” is a money management term. It means you set an amount at which you end your gaming session. If you’re win goal is $500 and you win $500, you immediately quit playing. If you’ve won $499, then it’s alright to keep playing. Setting a win goal helps you lock in winnings.
Set a loss limit: “loss limit” is another bankroll management term and is the opposite of a win goal. It means you set a minimum amount at which you stop playing. Loss limits keep a gambler from going on tilt, while assuring responsible play. Your loss limit might mean you either end the session or take a few minutes break before using more of your bankroll.
Avoid progressive betting: you’ll read a lot about progressive betting systems like the martingale, D’alembert, and fibonacci methods. Avoid any progressive betting system, which requires bigger wagers after losing hands/spins/rolls. Such bets win small amounts in the short run, but risk losing your whole bankroll if you get unlucky.
Folding in poker games: mastering the art of folding is important in games like texas hold’em, three-card poker, and let it ride. Poker players tend to be brave souls. It’s natural to make a call or raise the bet, but some of the best hands you’ll play are those in which you choose to fold. In online poker games, bluffing is marginal, so learning when you should call or not is key.
What is a strategy?
A strategy is a course of action you decide on in advance. For example, a gambling strategy might be to learn how to play blackjack using perfect strategy by memorizing a basic strategy chart, and then testing yourself with an online basic strategy tutor. The second step in that strategy might be to learn how to count cards by reading a book on the subject, picking a methodology, and practicing at your kitchen table until you can count down an entire deck in 60 seconds or less. The next step in that strategy might be to set aside a bankroll large enough to withstand the effects of standard deviation and avoid going broke. Your final step would be to embark on your new career (or avocation) as a card counter.
But that’s not the only valid gambling strategy. Your strategy might be to set aside $50 out of every paycheck to play the slots with. You make a single trip to a casino once a month with a bankroll of approximately $200. If you lose the $200, you quit for the session, and you return the following month to try it again. If you win $200 or more, you quit winners for the session, have some fun with your winnings, and return the next month with your new $200 bankroll that you’ve accumulated.
The first strategy (the blackjack strategy) is a positive expectation strategy, assuming you can develop the skills involved, and also assuming that you have the self-discipline to follow it. A positive expectation strategy is one which can expect to win money over a long enough period of time. In the short term, anything can happen, but in the long run, gamblers with a positive expectation strategy expect to win more than they lose.
The second strategy (the slot machine strategy) is a negative expectation strategy. Slot machines are a negative expectation game, and even reasonable money management tactics like the one outlined above won’t overcome the game’s built in mathematical disadvantage over the long run.
Is one strategy better than the other?
That depends on your goals as a gambler. If your goal is to earn a living gambling, then you’d want to stick with some kind of strategy and game where you can get a positive expectation. Blackjack, poker, video poker, and sports betting are all gambling games where you can get a positive expectation IF you acquire the necessary skillset.
On the other hand, if your goal is to entertain yourself and occasionally celebrate a big win, and you don’t mind spending the money for that entertainment, the slot machine strategy above would work fine for you. Almost all other gambling and casino games besides the ones I mentioned in the last paragraph are negative expectation games, so you cannot hope to get an edge when playing them. Games like roulette, slot machines, craps, and keno have a negative expectation, and anyone who plays them long enough will experience more losses than wins.
Best gambling strategies
Those are single tips for the most popular games, but readers might want more details. In the section below, we go over the best strategies for each popular game, including video slots and texas hold’em. Keep in mind that casino strategies which work in brick-and-mortar gaming establishments do not always apply to online and mobile casinos. Handy tips exist for each game, so each best strategy tip will help you walk out of the casino with a bigger bankroll than otherwise.
Best slots strategy
As a general rule, slot machines have no strategy element. Winning or losing is purely a matter of chance. Skill-based slots are legal in las vegas and atlantic city now — and should become mainstream in a few years. Also, some progressive jackpots go so high that playing becomes a positive expectation game, though winning on a progressive slot machine is still a matter of pure chance. Avoid the zigzag method and other proposed slots systems, because slot machines have no betting system proven to win.
Best blackjack strategy
Basic blackjack strategy optimizes your decisions in order to get the best possible house edge, counting cards is how you gain an advantage over the casino. Card counters are not welcome at casinos, though it’s a legal way to beat the casino. A variety of card counting methods exist. Some are easy to learn and others are complicated. Keeping a count while you act nonchalant in order to fool the dealer and the pit boss is the hard part. Live dealer blackjack offers the best chance to count cards and not be noticed.
Best three card poker strategy
Experts on casino strategy have different theories on which 3-card poker hands to play. Some think you should only hold a hand with a king-or-better. Others suggest a Q-10 is the minimum cut-off point. Both are wrong. Computer simulations show that the optimal strategy is to play any hand which is Q-6-4 or better. If you want something simpler to remember, then the best three-card poker strategy is to play any hand which is queen-six or better.
Best let it ride strategy
The biggest mistake players make in let it ride is “letting it ride” too often. Unsuited 9-10-J is not a playable hand in let it ride, for instance. When you hold 3 cards at the beginning of a hand, you should only let the bet ride when you hold: a paying hand (of course), any three to a royal flush, three suited cards besides 2-3-4 or A-2-C, or any three to a straight flush when (at least) one card is 10 or higher. Unless you hold one of these hands, you need to fold.
Best roulette strategy
The best online roulette strategy is to find casinos which offer “la partage” or “en prison” rules alongside either european roulette or french roulette. This combination of rules lowers the house edge to 1.35%. High rollers should focus on french roulette, the game which uses alternate bets which french names. The full/maximum or full/complete bet offers the best way to max out the betting limits for a high stakes gambler, because it is 12-bets-in-1 on the same roulette number.
Best craps strategy
When learning craps, study the “odds” bets, which have a house edge of 0%. The best craps bets are the basic ones: come, don’t come, passline, and don’t pass. Dice shooters need to know one addition bet, which is an add-on to the basic bets after the point is established. Taking the odds is a way to make a much larger wager on the original bet, thus watering down the house edge in a way. Casinos limit the odds players can take, which is a good sign it’s a good thing for you.
Best texas hold’em strategy
Whole books have been written on the best texas hold’em strategy, but most of that doesn’t apply to online poker. Bluffing and reading bluffs is next-to-impossible in a virtual texas holdem game online, but third-party software exists that lets a player quickly study their opponent’s hand history. This provides insight into that player’s tendencies, helping you determine whether the player is loose/tight and aggressive/passive. With that data at hand, you can make winning decisions in online texas hold’em.
What’s the difference between a gambling strategy, gambling tactics, and gambling systems?
I outlined a gambling strategy above, but just to reiterate, a strategy is an approach to an activity.
A tactic is similar to a strategy, but it applies to individual decisions and individual situations. Deciding to become a card counter who uses the hi-lo counting method is a gambling strategy decision. Deciding whether or not to double down on an ace during a blackjack game is a tactical decision.
Many games of chance offer no opportunities to make tactical decisions. For example, in baccarat, you have no real effect on the outcome of each hand, no matter what decision you make. In roulette, you can decide what option to bet on, but all of the bets at the table have the same house edge, so the only tactical decision you’re making is whether you want to lose your money quickly or slowly.
In some games, like craps, different bets offer different odds. You can make a tactical decision to only place the bets which offer you the best odds.
A gambling system is a totally different animal though. A gambling system is almost always a scam sold by a con man. Gambling systems usually involve trying to manipulate the odds of a casino game by changing the sizes of your bets based on previous results. I’ll have a lot more to write about that particular subject in a future article, but for now, please trust me. Gambling systems don’t work. PLEASE don’t waste your money on them.
Learn the best betting systems for each game
All casinos games have their own rules and strategies. The best way to win is to learn the casino betting systems for each game. This is true for every new casino game you play. The examples below illustrate the wide variety of casino winning tips which exist.
Casino tips for winning
- Blackjack basic strategy: consult a basic strategy chart when play blackjack. Free printable blackjack strategy charts exist online. Remember to use a basic strategy card specific to the rules you’re using.
- Sucker bets in craps: notice in the table above the wide disparity in craps bets. The basic come bet, don’t come bet, pass line bet, and don’t pass bet have a comparable house edge to baccarat and some video poker machines. Many sucker bets exist in craps, including the worst of the bunch: the “any 7” bet.
- Single-zero roulette: if given the option, always choose single-zero roulette, better known as european roulette and french roulette. It’s easy to spot this form of the game: you’ll see only one 0-pocket on the wheel. In american roulette, you’ll see a 0-pocket and a 00-pocket.
- Banker bet in baccarat: the banker bet has better odds than the player bet in baccarat, even though you pay a 5% fee to the casino. Never make the tie bet in baccarat, which is a sucker bet if there ever was one.
- SNG double up strategy: in online texas hold’em, play in sit’n go double-up tournament to build your bankroll. The point isn’t to finish in 1st place, but to survive the bubble. If you have the short stack, play loose and aggressive, because most card players want to avoid the bubble. Avoid the big stack, but pick on the medium stacks in this casino double-up strategy.
What now?
The rest of this site is dedicated to explaining how various casino games and betting games work. We’ll eventually offer analyses of all the casino games (and other gambling games) we can think of, along with some suggestions about what strategic and tactical approaches you might want to take toward those games, depending on your goals.
I don’t judge or look down on people for how they gamble. If you just want to plunk coins into a slot machine and hope for a win, that’s your business. More power to you. If you want to maximize how much money you can win playing poker or blackjack, that’s your business too, and I have enough experience in each subject to provide you with the tips and advice you need to get started in that endeavor.
A guide to winning techniques for your 3 card poker strategy
Following on from our 3 card poker guide, we now introduce you to the 3 card poker strategy. Here we look at the three card poker game and the various ways in which you can gain distinct advantages over the game and the casino.
| casino | bonus | terms | software | visit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| bet | payout | bet | payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 60 to 1 | 11 | 6 to 1 |
| 5 | 30 to 1 | 12 | 6 to1 |
| 6 | 17 to 1 | 13 | 8 to 1 |
| 7 | 12 to 1 | 14 | 12 to 1 |
| 8 | 8 to 1 | 15 | 17 to1 |
| 9 | 6 to 1 | 16 | 30 to1 |
| 10 | 6 to 1 | 17 | 60 to 1 |
Single dice bet
If you make single dice bet, you predict that a specific number will appear on one, two, or all three dice.
You can choose any single number - from 1 to 6. If it appears on one dice, the payout is 1 to 1. If it appears on two dice - 2 to 1, on three - 3 to 1.
Double and triple bets
You will want to make a double bet when you have a strong feeling that two of the dice will come up having the same number.
This bet pays 10 to 1 but you have only 7.4 percent chance to predict it right.
Like the double, there are triple bets, too. You can bet that all three dice will have the same numbers. And if you are right, it pays 30 to 1.
If you want to take it up a notch, you can bet on a specific set of triples. Your odds are worse but the payout is sweet: 180 to 1.
Two dice combination bets
If you look further sic bo table layout, you’ll see 15 domino-like areas for different two dice combinations, e.G. 1-2, 2-3, 3-5, etc.
That’s another thing you can bet on. Sometimes it’s called domino bet, or simple two dice combination bet.
It predicts the outcomes of two dice at once rather than all three or their sum. This bet pays 5 to 1.
Betting options recap
To make it even less confusing, here’s a table with all the bets, payouts, possible winning combinations, and house edge.
Make sure to use if the first times you play sic bo. Later on, you’ll get a hold of your odds for different bets and have a better understanding of which bets are better to make.
| Bet | payout | winning combinations | house edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| small or big bet | 1 to 1 | 105 | 2.78% |
| sum of 4 or 17 | 60 to 1 | 3 | 15.28% |
| sum of 5 or 16 | 30 to 1 | 6 | 13.89% |
| sum of 6 or 15 | 17 to 1 | 10 | 16.67% |
| sum of 7 or 14 | 12 to 1 | 15 | 9.72% |
| sum of 8 or 13 | 8 to 1 | 21 | 12.50% |
| sum of 9 or 12 | 6 to 1 | 25 | 18.99% |
| sum of 10 or 11 | 6 to 1 | 27 | 12.50% |
| single dice bet | 1 to 1, 2 to 1, 3 to 1 | 75, 15, 1 | 7.87% |
| double bet | 10 to 1 | 6 | 18.25% |
| any triple bet | 30 to1 | 6 | 13.89% |
| specific triple bet | 180 to 1 | 1 | 16.20% |
| two dice combo | 5 to 1 | 30 | 16.67% |
How to win at sic bo casino game
Finding ways how to win at sic bo may be what led you to this article in the first place.
Then I have good news and bad news for you.
Bad news first: there is not a single solid sic bo betting strategy that would help you to win every single time.
I know, I know, that’s unfortunate.
But it’s a game of chance, after all. And there is nothing you can do to predict the exact outcomes of the dice.
Yet (the good news) if you want to play better and win more, you CAN count on some sic bo strategy tips.
1. Don’t get tempted to bet on too many areas
When playing sic bo online, you can place multiple bets at once. Online casinos usually allow betting on up to 16 areas per one roll. But I wouldn’t recommend betting on that many.
Sure, you’ll win multiple bets. But how many will you lose in the process?
Instead, analyze all the betting options.
- What are the chances of winning for each of them?
- Are the payouts even worth it?
Then you’ll have your own sic bo strategy. And you'll manage your bankroll better than when playing the game randomly. It will help you to win more in the long term.
2. Place most bets on big or small area
This may be an obvious choice by now. The big and small bets have the best odds and the smallest house edge.
If you play at land-based casino, you can find some players betting only on big and small bets.
But betting only on those would be pretty boring, don’t you think?
And the fun element in casino games is almost as important as the prizes you win. Thus, don’t forget to explore other betting options while still keeping most (and highest) bets on the big or small areas.
3. Don’t fall for the gambler’s fallacy
Gambler’s fallacy is a common myth in gambling. It states that if something happens more frequently at some point, it will occur less frequently later on.
As in if the dice have been rolling big sums for a long time, it will definitely roll a lot of small ones now.
The outcomes of the dice are not dependent on what happened before. So, don’t follow this blindly. Not in sic bo, not in craps, and not in any other game of chance.
Where to play sic bo online
This guide was explicit enough, so don’t panic - I won’t bore you with hundreds of places where to play sic bo.
I doubt there are that many places online anyway. And even if there are, only a few would be any good for playing sic bo.
No matter whether you’re a beginner or already had experience playing sic bo, you should try the games at this online casino.
It features two sic bo platforms:
BGAMING’s platform may be a bit simpler and clearer, so you won’t get confused even if it’s your first time playing the game.
All the payouts are written on the layout already. And you can use the same platform for both free and real money gambling.
Bonus, you can change the color of the sic bo table. Maybe you have a lucky color you’d prefer to use?
If you want to feel the chinese roots while playing the game, go for a habanero platform.
It’s more traditional and has that oriental feel to it.
But when it comes to the payouts, house edge, or any other important numbers, you’ll have the same experience no matter which sic bo platform you choose for playing.
The promotion presented on this page was available at the time of writing. With some casino promotions changing on daily basis, we suggest you to check on the site if it still available. Also, please do not forget to read the terms and conditions in full before you accept a bonus.
Play sic bo - a casino game most people know nothing about - for FREE!
So, let's see, what we have: guide for big six, wheel of fortune, money wheel, big wheel, or lucky wheel, with rules, betting options, payout odds, and house edge on a number of wheels. At big 6 casino game strategy
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