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Slots versus Roulette

18 October 2022

Slot players don’t have a better chance to win than, say, a blackjack player or craps player or roulette player, right? Machines are greedier than table games, right?

I am not so sure. Of course, slot machines do take between eight and 15 percent (more or less) of the money played in them.

But most slot players are playing 25 cents or $1.00 as their minimum bet. Yes, many play more since they can play twice, three-times or more than the minimum bet. Casinos encourage this. You can see it plainly that many, if not most, machines will pay more on the BIG jackpot line when “full coin” is played.

Let us say we assume that a typical slot player will play 75 cents to $3.00 per decision. How many decisions will such a player face per hour? We need some basis to figure out what percentage of the money played will be given to the casino.

Let us say the slot player faces 12 decisions a minute; 720 decisions per hour. The 75 cents player will probably face a 12 percent house edge; the $3 player will face a house edge of 10 percent. (Yes, I am guessing here.)

The 75-cent player will put through $540 per hour; the $3.00 player will put through $2,160 per hour. The 75-cents player’s expectation is to lose $64.80 while the $3.00 player will lose $216.

Casinos like it if you play four hours, so let’s do that. The 75 cents player is expected to lose $259.20. The $3.00 player is expected to lose $864.

How do these figures relate to a table game such as roulette?

If I am a $10 roulette player only making one bet per decision, what is my monetary expectation? At roulette you’ll play between 40 and 50 decisions per hour. Let’s make that 45 decisions per hour. The amount bet in an hour will be $450. Subtract the house edge of 5.26 percent from that and the player is expected to lose $23.67 per hour. In four hours, that’s giving over $94.68 to the house edge.

If the roulette player is playing two $10 bets or three, then just multiply two or three or however many bets you think that player will make to the above numbers.

It would seem that a $10 roulette player going against a 5.26 percent house edge is having a better game of it than a slot player.

I think what you will find is that most table-game players are losing less than a slot player if the betting amounts are relatively small – in that $10 range.

Naturally, slot players can reduce the hit of the casino by playing shorter hours and/or betting even smaller minimums.

When we get to games such as craps where there are many multiple bets and almost all craps player do make multiple bets, the cost of play will go up.

Still, I do think it is still a right statement to say, “Slots rule the casinos!”

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank Scoblete’s web site is www.frankscoblete.com. His books are available from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, e-books, libraries and bookstores.
Frank Scoblete

Frank Scoblete is the #1 best selling gaming author in America. His newest books are Slots Conquest: How to Beat the Slot Machines; Everything Casino Poker: Get the Edge at Video Poker, Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo and Pai Gow Poker!; Beat Blackjack Now: The Easiest Way to Get the Edge; Casino Craps: Shoot to Win!; Cutting Edge Craps: Advanced Strategies for Serious Players; Casino Conquest: Beat the Casinos at Their Own Games! and The Virgin Kiss.

Frank and Casino City Times columnist Jerry "Stickman" teach private lessons in dice control. Frank's books are available at Amazon.com, in bookstores or by mail order. Call 1-800-944-0406 or write to Frank Scoblete Enterprises, PO Box 446, Malverne, NY 11565. Frank can also be reached by email at fscobe@optonline.net.

Frank Scoblete Websites:

www.goldentouchcraps.com
www.goldentouchblackjack.com

Books by Frank Scoblete:

> More Books By Frank Scoblete

Frank Scoblete
Frank Scoblete is the #1 best selling gaming author in America. His newest books are Slots Conquest: How to Beat the Slot Machines; Everything Casino Poker: Get the Edge at Video Poker, Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo and Pai Gow Poker!; Beat Blackjack Now: The Easiest Way to Get the Edge; Casino Craps: Shoot to Win!; Cutting Edge Craps: Advanced Strategies for Serious Players; Casino Conquest: Beat the Casinos at Their Own Games! and The Virgin Kiss.

Frank and Casino City Times columnist Jerry "Stickman" teach private lessons in dice control. Frank's books are available at Amazon.com, in bookstores or by mail order. Call 1-800-944-0406 or write to Frank Scoblete Enterprises, PO Box 446, Malverne, NY 11565. Frank can also be reached by email at fscobe@optonline.net.

Frank Scoblete Websites:

www.goldentouchcraps.com
www.goldentouchblackjack.com

Books by Frank Scoblete:

> More Books By Frank Scoblete