Dear Mark: I met a player while playing video poker who claimed that he always played with an edge against the house, and wins all the time. The best pay tables where we play are Jacks-or-better 9/6 machines, and only four of them I might add. You have stated that on those particular machines, the house edge is a half of one percent. How then can he claim that he always has an edge against the house? Phil G.
For starters, Phil, winning all the time, is never guaranteed, even if said player has a mathematical edge against the house. I know plenty of video poker players who make, or try to make a profession out of playing video poker who have slumps lasting weeks, even months, and that’s with a slight advantage against the casino.
As for his so-called edge, yes, Phil, it’s possible. Using your example, a player playing a 9/6 machine with perfect strategy can expect a 99.5% return. By getting at least a one percent return in cash backs and other freebies, it's possible for the overall return to exceed 100%. By catching his edge from the benefits of comps like cash backs, or RFB’s (room, food or beverage), he still needs to hit his fair share of royals, which appear, on average, once in every 40,000 hands. Without his hitting a royal flush on a Jacks-or-better 9/6 machine, the house edge becomes 2.5%.
Another example where you would theoretically have an edge against the house is seeking out progressive video poker machines where the jackpot exceeds a certain amount, but in the end, Phil, it all comes down to identifying machines with a decent payback, employing perfect play, getting your fair share of comps, and hitting those elusive royals.
Dear Mark: If multiple odds on a crap table reduce the casino advantage so much, do you ever have an edge against the house? Gary I.
Every crap wager that includes multiple odds has two parts, a pass line bet and free odds.
On your pass line wager, Gary, the house edge is a concrete 1.41 percent. Backing it up with free odds brings down the overall edge on the combination to well under one percent, because distinct from all other craps wagers, free odds carry NO house edge. All bets are paid off at true odds.
For instance, let's say that you bet $5 on the pass line and the point is 4. On a double-odds table, where you are allowed to make an odds bet twice the size of your original pass bet, you are allowed to back your pass line bet with $10 in free odds.
The odds against your winning are 2-1, because with two six-sided dice, there are six ways of making a 7 (loser) and three ways of making a winner 4. If you win, your pass line bet is paid at even money, bringing you $5 in winnings, but your odds bet is paid at the 2-1 true odds, bringing you an additional $20.
The more odds you are allowed to take, the more the house edge on your pass line bet is diluted. With single odds, the house edge on the pass with odds grouped together drops to 0.8 percent. Per my example above, double odds, the house edge drops to 0.6 percent, 10x odds, 0.2 percent and 0.02 percent with 100x odds.
You will note, Gary, that the house edge continues to get watered down the more odds you take, but it is never completely eliminated to the point where it would give you an edge against the house. You can only one-up the casino through comps and cash backs (see question above).
Gambling Wisdom of the Week: “Most people bet with their hands, not over them, and realize that gambling and speculation are good servants and bad masters.” Reuven and Gabrielle a Brenner, Gambling and Speculation 1990