Was Anybody Aware Of This?

The house edge is defined as the ratio of the average loss to the initial bet. The house edge is not the ratio of money lost to total money wagered. In some games the beginning wager is not necessarily the ending wager. For example in blackjack, let it ride, and Caribbean stud poker, the player may increase their bet when the odds favor doing so. In these cases the additional money wagered is not figured into the denominator for the purpose of determining the house edge, thus increasing the measure of risk.

The reason that the house edge is relative to the original wager, not the average wager, is that it makes it easier for the player to estimate how much they will lose. For example if a player knows the house edge in blackjack is 0.6% he can assume that for every $10 wager original wager he makes he will lose 6 cents on the average. Most players are not going to know how much their average wager will be in games like blackjack relative to the original wager, thus any statistic based on the average wager would be difficult to apply to real life questions.

The conventional definition can be helpful for players determine how much it will cost them to play, given the information they already know. However the statistic is very biased as a measure of risk. In Caribbean stud poker, for example, the house edge is 5.22%, which is close to that of double zero roulette at 5.26%. However the ratio of average money lost to average money wagered in Carribean stud is only 2.56%. The player only looking at the house edge may be indifferent between roulette and Caribbean stud poker, based only the house edge. If one wants to compare one game against another I believe it is better to look at the ratio of money lost to money wagered, which would show Caribbean stud poker to be a much better gamble than roulette.

Many other sources do not count ties in the house edge calculation, especially for the don't pass bet in craps and the banker and player bets in baccarat. The rationale is that if a bet isn't resolved then it should be ignorred. I personally opt to include ties although I respect the other definition.

--------------

i never knew this, and im sure most of you werent either, because i have seen calculations such with [avg bet * house edge * hands per hour] when apparently thats not correct, as its apples and oranges
 

Sonny

Well-Known Member
SilentBob420BMFJ said:
…i have seen calculations such with [avg bet * house edge * hands per hour] when apparently thats not correct, as its apples and oranges
If you replace “average bet” with “average initial bet” the formula will work fine.

-Sonny-
 
Sonny said:
If you replace “average bet” with “average initial bet” the formula will work fine.

-Sonny-
i know, thats what im saying.. the house edge is calculated according to the initial bet, which i never knew.. put another way, the house edge does not consider double downs, splits, etc.. something like that.. of course im sure the house edge for games like roulette is the same no matter how you look at it.. what i was saying was that you cant say "well i bet $10 flat, which would make my average overall bet something like $12 due to double downs and spits, so ill do $12*edge*hph" because the house edge doesnt include all that.. does anybody know where i can get a list of casino games based on all the money you bet, not just the initial wager?
 

Sonny

Well-Known Member
SilentBob420BMFJ said:
what i was saying was that you cant say "well i bet $10 flat, which would make my average overall bet something like $12 due to double downs and spits, so ill do $12*edge*hph" because the house edge doesnt include all that..
But the house edge does include that. That’s why you don’t need to adjust your bet size to include splits and doubles. If you flat bet $10 with a 0.5% house edge you will expect to lose $0.05 on each hand. You don’t need to add the extra money that you would use for splits and doubles because the house edge already includes that. The only time you need to worry about your average bet size is if you are using a bet spread.

SilentBob420BMFJ said:
does anybody know where i can get a list of casino games based on all the money you bet, not just the initial wager?
I don’t know of any place that has those numbers. In my opinion it would be much more difficult to use those numbers since most people don’t know what their average overall bet is (the average initial bet is often much easier). It seems simpler just to use the initial bet size and have the house edge include all additional money placed after play has begun.

-Sonny-
 

Kasi

Well-Known Member
SilentBob420BMFJ said:
does anybody know where i can get a list of casino games based on all the money you bet, not just the initial wager?
Somewhere the Wiz lists some games with HA and element of risk.

If you subtract ER from HA and divide that number by HA you will get average total units bets per hand.

I used to play an all-in poker game in vegas where my average bet was almost 7 times my initial bet so it can make a difference.

As I think you are pointing out, it also shows how only a naked comparison of one HA to another can be potentially very misleading.
 
Top