The house edge, mathematical expectation

Online casinos offer lots of casino bonus promotions, there are gambling forums in the net, TV and billboards ads etc. But majority of newbies are interested in three questions:

- How fair are the online casinos?

- Can I win at online casinos?

- Is there any winning system?

And of course a traditional question is if you have ever beat online casino.

Definitely, there would not be so much ado about nothing. Besides, some professional casino players are able to milk the casinos on a daily basis.

- How fair are the online casinos?, - answer on this question find here Choosing online casinos.

In this article we would focus on the remaining issues

- Can I win at online casinos?

- Is there any winning system?

To reply briefly "Yes, you can win", "No, no guaranteed strategies".

The question of how to beat the online casinos is quite multi-layered. It is known fact that casino games are based on randomness - you can get good cards combination or you may not; the roulette ball may land on your number or may not. It looks as everything depends on your luck rather than skill or effort.

If you are lucky enough you are in the black if not you are loosing. And in the short run, depending on luck during the gaming session you may win or lose. But we must remember: the house games rules are build in a way that in a long run the casino has mathematical advantage over the player, but not excluding the possibility of a large short term payouts.

The probabilities in all casino games are thoroughly calculated in terms of probability theory and payments. Usually it is less than 100%.  It means that on every players bet of $100 he would get a winning of $90 - $99. Again, it is an average and not so obvious on a short single session. However the more you play the more you loose and the chances of winning would tend to the average mathematical expectation, which means the loss. The casino will earn more money, than it will spend, thanks to the passionate nature of man and the law of large numbers.

Online casinos revenues are formed by the formula: (sum total of gamblers’ bets)*(house edge). Frequent winners in the online casinos are called advanced players; they are good mathematicians and statisticians, whose aim is to minimize the house edge, by selecting "right" games and playing by optimal strategies.

The following is the way of calculating a house edge for European roulette with a single zero - from 37 (the number of slots) we subtract 36 (a gain payout) and receive 1 (a casino's profit). To determine the house edge, we need to divide 1 by 37 and multiply it by 100% (1 / 37 * 100% = 2.7 percent). This way, casino games bring to their owners an advantage for accounting of difference between a mathematical expectation and an announced bet, and the more the number of games played, the higher the casino profit. Click on the image to enlarge to see the house edge for different casino games.

But how to beat the casinos if the situation is not in the players favour?   

First of all online casinos to get new customers are launching casino bonus promotions all the time. These casino bonuses change the house edge dramatically in favour of the player. However, when using the casino bonuses there is its own specific. Depending on the bonus types the player has to choose the bonus wagering strategy. To learn how you can use the winning strategy, please read Casino bonus strategy articles.