Part III: Business & Regulation · Gambling Mathematics & Probability

4. Payout Odds

Foundational Probability

Payout odds are the actual multiple of the wager that a casino pays to a winning player, which is always less than the true odds to ensure a house advantage. The difference between payout odds and true odds represents the casino’s profit margin on each bet type. For example, in American roulette, a winning bet on a single number pays 35:1, but the true odds are 37:1 (since there are 38 numbers including 0 and 00). Surveillance and pit personnel should be thoroughly familiar with all payout odds for their games to spot incorrect payouts, which represent either operational errors or potential fraud by dealers or players.

In practice

Payout odds are typically expressed “to one” in North American casinos (the original wager is returned in addition to the payout). In some jurisdictions and electronic games, odds may be expressed “for one,” which includes the original wager in the stated amount.

One entry from the Casino Industry Glossary — 1,157 terms written for surveillance, compliance and operations professionals rather than for players. Definitions describe industry usage; where a term carries a regulatory meaning, verify against the instrument that governs your jurisdiction.