Don't buy the hype
Odds of Winning
Each game has its own odds of winning. But remember, no matter what the game, the odds of losing are always higher than the odds of winning — especially for the top prizes. The chances of taking home the jackpot are lower than getting hit by lightning when you're walking through the casino parking lot.
The industry knows what sells, and it's not the large jackpots. It's actually the small, frequent wins that create the excitement and keep us playing. When the odds of a game look good, like 1 in 4, it's because of the large amount of small prizes available to be won. This brings the odds of the game down to a level that is easier to market to you, the buyer. But now that you know the truth, you won't be played, right?
Think about the odds of winning for the popular Set for Life instant game:
Lowest Prize: $4 or a free ticket — 1 in 4.37
Top Prize: Set for Life — 1 in 880,000
This means that, on average, 1 in every 4 tickets is a winner — but it will probably be very small ($4 or a free ticket). The excitement of winning the small prize fools us into believing that we are more likely to win the large jackpot as well.
The result? We spend more to keep playing and that can lead to bringing home a lot less bacon.
Take a look at the odds for winning the top prizes for other popular lottery products.
6/49
Jackpot 1 in 13,983,816
This means that if you buy one ticket per week you can expect to win the top prize, on average, once during the next 268,920 years.
LOTTO MAX
Jackpot - 1 in 28,600,000
Odds of winning any prize - 1 in 6.6
Just like the other product examples, you may win something, but it's more likely to be a smaller amount. These small wins entice you to keep spending. Often people will use their small win to buy a new ticket. As a result, they play until they no longer win and walk away with nothing.
Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs)
You can bet anywhere from five cents to a maximum of $2.50 for a single spin on a VLT, and the maximum amount the machine will pay out in winnings on any single spin is $500.
The odds of winning this maximum top prize are about 1 in 270,000 for each spin, no matter what the result was for the previous spin.
This means if you usually bet 50 cents per spin and keep playing until you win the top prize of $500, on average, you will lose about $6,750. Of course, there is no guarantee that you will win $500 after $6,750 has been put into the machine.
If you bet more than 50 cents each spin, it will cost you even more to win that top prize.
At $1.00 per spin and playing until you win the top prize, on average, you will lose about $13,500. At the maximum bet per spin ($2.50) you will lose, on average, more than $30,000 trying to win $500.
But just like lottery products, people will win small amounts while they are playing. These small wins are designed to keep the play exciting. People will often leave these winnings in the machine and continue playing. This is one of the reasons why most people usually walk away with no payout at all.
Blackjack
Not counting when player and dealer both bust, the house wins 52% of the hands (ties go the house) and the player will win 47% of the hands.
Over time, the house wins and the player loses. That's how all gambling works.
Poker
In a standard 52-card poker deck, there are 2,598,960 possible poker hands. The chance of you having ONE pair is 42%. Don't order that Porsche just yet — that could be a pair of deuces.
How many cards does your online deck have?
Roulette for all even money bets:
Roulette is a complicated game with odd/even, red/black, high/low chances plus single, double, triple or quadruple bets on numbers from 1 to 36, not to mention 0 and 00.
Calculating the odds in any understandable fashion is almost impossible, but the bottom line is you will lose more often than you win over time. Even what appears to be a 50-50 chance, like odd/even, is tipped in the house's favour by 0 and 00 which are neither odd nor even.
As for betting on numbers and winning ... well, read 'em and weep:
- Odds of winning single number bet: 3% That means you will lose 97 times out of 100.
- Odds of winning two-number bet: 5% That means you will lose 95 times out of 100.
It is always a good idea to find out what the breakdown is of the odds before you play.
Outsmart the Marketing
The gambling industry is very good at marketing. They use all the techniques that other advertisers do to get you to buy their product. Like it or not, you are a target. But if you know the tricks, you can shut them down.
In a study conducted in Atlantic Canada of 920 lottery ads, the emotional qualities in the ads were especially inviting to young people, making them feel positive about the chance of winning, and advertised lottery products that, in turn, reinforced gambling as something everyone commonly does.
Ads entice people with the prospects of huge jackpots and easy wins, showcasing glamorous top prize winners, and provide false fantasies that winning is life-changing. These depictions are narrow and misleading.
The deceptive "promises" the gambling industry makes:
Easy Money. Yes, they say gambling is for entertainment, but below the surface lies the promise of "free" money.
Winning. Lottery commercials implore you to dream of the possibilities. They don't mention that you are much more likely to be hit by lightning than you are to win a multi-million dollar jackpot.
Instant gratification. Think of scratch and win tickets. You can win right now! No need to wait for a draw. Win now. Right now. Go ahead scratch and win. Even the name scratch and WIN ignores the fact that most of the time it will be scratch and LOSE.
High Life. Look closely at casino advertising. The lights are brighter, the colours are more vivid, and the people are happier than real life. It is a created reality — one that strongly hints of sophistication and high living with an added dash of James Bond thrown in.
Celebrity. Poker websites are really capitalizing on the Texas Hold 'em fad. Many celebrities are into poker and the industry uses their fame to try to draw you in. They suggest that if you play, you'll be just like your favourite movie star or sports hero.
Gambling is a sport. Betting on sports is gambling, too. From a casual bet on a game with a friend to organized pools and online wagers, gambling on sports is just as addictive as casinos, machines or tickets. Not to mention, setting up a pool or forum for people to wager, where you stand to profit, is illegal.
Escape. Online gambling sites are now swarming through universities actively recruiting new customers. They position their sites as great ways to relieve the stress of being a university student. Of course, it's also a great way to empty your bank account.
Improvement. Many online poker sites offer "practice" sites where you can play poker without betting real money. What they're really hoping for is that by constant practicing, you'll feel confident enough to play in real money games and get you hooked on their site.
Easy Play. The online sites make it easy for you to keep playing. All you have to do is register your credit card number with an application like PayPal and then wait for the monthly surprise on your statement. This technique is one of the most popular and most dangerous because you don't even see the money going.
Easy Access. VLTs are easier to find than mailboxes. Just about every pub in the province has a room for these machines. In fact, pubs have become so dependent on them that many would be out of business without the revenue the machines make for them.
One last thought.
If you've ever been to a casino, you may have seen their "Wall of Winners." Ever wonder why there's no wall for people who have played and lost? They could cover every wall in the building, and there still wouldn't be enough room.
Remember, gambling is entertainment, not a way to make money. Know the facts.