Most people don't come to a casino interested in doing math. A casino is a place to have fun, put down some bets and hope to get lucky. However, the more involved you become in casino gaming, the more important it is for you to understand the basic mathematical ideas involved.

Basic Casino Math: To vs. For

The main issue of casino math is odds calculations. Whenever you make a bet in a casino, you are being offered odds (with the exception of playing "Don't" wagers in craps, in which case you are laying odds). This means that for every dollar you wager, you will get back some multiple of that if you win. For example if you are being offered 3-to-1 odds, you will win three dollars for every dollar you bet if you win. It's important to know the distinction between this and 3-for-1 odds. In the latter case, you forfeit whatever you originally bet, so you would really win only two dollars for every dollar you bet with a win.

Example of To vs. For Casino Math

Let's say you are getting 3-to-1 on a bet. You put up $300. If you win, you get $1200, the $300 you originally bet plus $900 as three times your wager. You profit $900. If you lose, you lose the $300 you put up. In a 3-for-1 bet, your $300 is gone no matter what. If you lose, you get nothing and are down $300. If you win, you get $900, but since you "bought" the wager for $300, you really only net $600. Another way to think of it is that a for wager is like a to wager minus one, so 4-for-1 is the same as 3-to-1, 3-for-1 is like 2-to-1, and so on.

Using Casino Math

These probabilities are important when deciding to make a certain wager. The closer the true likelihood of winning is to the odds you are getting, whether they are "to" odds or "for" odds, the better the bet. If you can get paid off at better odds than your true odds of winning, you actually have an edge in the wager.