Speaking statistically, wouldn’t a game of chance with true payouts always end up with the player breaking even? I mean, I know not practically, but just in theory.
Say I’m spinning a roulette wheel type thing with 25 slots on it. If it lands on any one of the 24 white spots, I pay the casino $1. If it lands on the red spot, they pay me $24 (i.e. the odds are 24:1). Theoretically, wouldn’t I always end up breaking even?
LC
There are alos green numbers such as 00 and 0. Odds get tilted to something worse than 50/50 for the gambler even when playing red/black only (or whatever two colors that wheel uses).
Tbis also means Roullette wheels pay 36 to 1 but have 38 numbers.
Yes. Which is why casinos don’t pay out true odds. Philster is right, except for the fact that getting any one number right in roulette actually pays 35 to 1, giving the casino an even bigger advantage. The only place you can get true odds payoff in the casino is at craps on a true odds bet. And the casino doesn’t even advertise that; if you look on the craps layout, there is no place listing where to play the bet. You have to know where to play it, and you have to already have a regular casino-advantage bet out on the table to play it.
That’s it. On roulette, the payout is 36 to 1 when the odds are 38 to 1. That may seem like a small difference, but it’s big profits for the house (especially since they spin the wheel every two minutes or less).
All other forms of gambling favor the house, usually by a greater degree (the slots are only for suckers). I believe the best chance for the bettor is craps, as long as you’re not actually throwing the dice.
Theoretically (in your scenario of 24 vs 1), yes. Practically, no. Your bankroll is (presumably) not as large as the casino’s. You will eventually hit a streak that wipes you out.
They don’t build those huge, ornate places by breaking even.
Real roulette (my favorite casino game), as mentioned before, has 2 green spaces on it (in the US). Two times out of 38 (in total aggregate), ODD loses, EVEN loses, RED loses, BLACK loses and every other poor sucker on the board loses. Deep pockets and a small edge will win every time.
and, upon preview, everyone else already said what I said.
Damn slow typing on my part.
Can’t you also bet on the green spaces?
'Twould be stupid, since the odds are 19:1, though/
You can bet on the number 0 (and on American roulette wheels, 00), but no, you cannot bet on green as you can red or black.
You can bet on the “line” between 0 and 00, which would be pretty much the same thing as a bet on “Green.”
:smack:
You are, of course, correct. And that would pay off the same as any other 2-number combination bet, 17:1.