How casino bets and payouts work, with simple examples
What "35 to 1" really means, how it differs from "35 for 1", and how pushes, commission and even-money bets change what you get back.
Every bet has two numbers behind it: the payout, which is what you receive if you win, and the chance of winning. The house edge sits in the gap between them. Because of that gap, players lose on average at every casino game.
"To 1" and "for 1"
A payout of "35 to 1" means you receive 35 units of profit for every 1 unit staked, and your stake stays with you. On a roulette straight-up bet of 10 units that wins, the profit is 350 units and you collect 360 in total.
"35 for 1" is different. It means the total returned, stake included, is 35 units for each 1 staked, so the profit is only 34. The word "for" gives a smaller payout than the word "to", so read the payout card carefully.
Some games show multipliers instead. In crash-style games, cashing out at 2.00x returns 2.00 units for every 1 staked. A 10-unit bet cashed out at 2.00x returns 20 units, a profit of 10.
Even money, pushes and commission
Even money, also written 1 to 1, means you win the same amount you staked. Red or black in roulette pays 1 to 1: a winning bet of 10 units gives 10 units of profit. It is still not a fair coin flip. On a single-zero wheel it wins in 18 of 37 spins (48.65%), because zero makes the bet lose.
A push means the bet neither wins nor loses and the stake is returned. In baccarat, a Player or Banker bet is pushed when the round is a tie. Not every game works that way. In the common live version of Dragon Tiger, a Dragon or Tiger bet loses half the stake on a tie. Always check the table rules.
Commission is a fee taken from a win. In baccarat, a winning Banker bet is commonly paid at 1 to 1 less a 5% commission, which is the same as 19 to 20. A winning 10-unit Banker bet therefore pays 9.5 units. Some games adjust the payout instead of charging commission. In Andar Bahar, the side dealt first is commonly paid at 0.9 to 1, so a winning 10-unit bet pays 9 units.
Payout versus chance
A payout only means something next to the chance of winning. In single-zero roulette, a straight-up bet wins 1 time in 37 and pays 35 to 1. A fair payout for those odds would be 36 to 1. The missing 1 is the house edge, which works out to 2.70% of each stake on average.
A big payout does not make a bet better. It usually means the bet wins less often.
18+ only. This article is for information, not advice to gamble. Responsible gambling.
