Jun 28 2009
Understanding Payout and Hold Percentages
A lot of people get very confused when gambling, when, for instance, they hear that a specific game or machine has a certain payout, and they don’t get it. Here’s a couple of reasons that happens.
First, payouts and holds are averages, they are not the guaranteed outcome in any one session. Just like it is possible for you to win despite the house advantage, it is possible for the house to win more than expected.
Second, holds and payouts are based on perfect strategic play. If you are not playing perfect strategy, you can expect the hold to be higher. Even slight variations can have large effects on the odds.
Finally, the hold is not the percentage of money brought to a table that a casino keeps. It is based off of the amount of money gambled. This may seem like a small difference, but it adds up. Let’s use an easy example.
If your are playing a $1 slot, and you start with $10, with a hold of say 10% (just to make it easy), you think the casino should only win $10, leaving you with ninety. But, let’s say you pull the lever with your first dollar, and you win $2. You now have already played $1, and have $12 on the machine. By the time you have gone through the money you have, you will actually have played $13, not $10. If you continue to go up and down (as you usually do) it is quite possible that you will have played twice as much, or more, as what you brought to the table. The hold is based 0ff of the total amount played, not the original bankroll of the player.
So, when looking at payouts and holds, players need to take into account natural, random variation; their skill level; and the true meaning of the payout and hold.
