HOUSE GAMES PLAYED SMARTLY
Every poker player is a gambler. You'll often hear the phrase "poker isn't gambling" or "I don't gamble, I play poker". Nonetheless, the element of chance in poker means that you are playing a game that involves gambling. Even if you have an edge on your opponents (and hopefully, if you've been following my articles, you will), you won't always win.
In many ways, playing winning poker requires you to conduct yourself like the House in a gambling game. Just as the House edge in a table game means the House will take a certain percentage of the action in the long run, your edge in poker means you will win a certain percentage of the hands you play. If you are a good player, you could have, say, a 3% edge on your opponents in a cash game. This means if you approach the game from a long-run perspective, that your time playing will net you the same kind of return that a casino will make by spreading a House game with a 3% edge. Ever seen a game of three-card poker at the local casino? That game, depending on the pay table and the bet(s) chosen, has a house edge of around 3%.
It has been written in some sources (such as Barry Greenstein's Ace on the River) that a professional poker player should try to conduct their poker business as the casino conducts their house games. House games are all the games in a casino where the player plays against the casino, and in these games, the casino always has an edge. This 'house edge' runs between less than 1% and more than 10%, depending on the bet. For professional poker players, an edge of 2-3% is usually required for sustaining one's bankroll. Anything less than this will invite too little earning and too much variance. Anything more than this is hardly sustainable. So poker players have to concentrate on making sure they can find spots where they can get their edge, and on protecting their bankroll, which essentially takes the place of the house's float.
When you are a professional poker player, keeping your game sharp, choosing your games properly and protecting your bankroll are the keys to ensuring that no one 'breaks the house'… when you are the house!
Nonetheless, sometimes poker players who are used to having a long-run edge (whether or not they are professionals), will choose to play house games for enjoyment. Just playing poker all day, either in one's house or at the casino, can become a drag. When a poker player decides to spend some money playing in a house game, they have some important decisions to make:
Type of game
The variety of house games available today is immense. With the advent of online gaming, one can easily access several different kinds of gambling.
Just as one would choose a poker game carefully, one must choose house games carefully. Slot machines and Keno generally feature the largest house edge, meaning that they cost the player the most money to play. Essentially, there are only two winners in slots and keno games - the house, which can take as much as ten cents on the dollar out of the players pocket (and sometimes more), and those who get lucky enough to win a jackpot, for whom the laws of probability have granted a reprieve.
If one wishes to practice proper (house) game selection, blackjack and craps are two examples of better choices for the smart gambler.
Craps: this game features a relatively low house edge on many bets. Pass line bets have a 1.41% edge, and depending on the 'odds' (the additional bets made after the come out roll), you can reduce this edge even more. With single odds you're throwing dice under 0.85%, and with double odds it's only a 0.61% house edge. Nonetheless, there are many bets in craps that feature a high house edge. Bets like the field, the hard ways, the horn and others, will make the house a lot more money than betting on the pass line.
Another caveat - many high-stakes poker players are large losers in craps. For some, it is the "Achilles heel" of their bankroll. It is because you can bet so much in this game, and lose so much on one throw of the dice, that even with a long-run house edge of less than 1%, players can lose thousands of dollars when the wrong number appears. Therefore, even though a smart gambler is more likely to choose craps over say a slot machine, the truly smart gambler will be careful about how much they bet on any house game!
Blackjack: Blackjack is the most common house game there is, aside perhaps from slot machines. You will be hard-pressed to find any casino (brick-and-mortar or online) which does not feature a blackjack game. Thankfully, this is also one of the best games in terms of house edge, especially when one uses optimal strategy. Unlike a slot machine or a keno card, one can affect the house edge by playing smart strategy. Very experienced blackjack players can even gain an edge over the house, if they are able to keep a strong count on the cards and know when to press their bets (and when to rescind). Blackjack odds can differ depending on structure - the player's odds improve with fewer decks, with higher blackjack payouts (the best is 3:2), and with the addition of surrender if correctly used. Commonly, blackjack features a house edge of equal to or less than 1%.
Even though both craps and blackjack feature similar house edges on the smart bets, there is one advantage of blackjack over craps even if one cannot count cards well-enough to surpass the entire house edge. With blackjack, although splitting and doubling will increase the amount bet, it is by no means as much as the ballooning effect that can occur on craps bets.
Allow me to explain. Two gamblers are playing, one at blackjack and the other at craps. Each starts with $300. The blackjack player places a $15 bet, and the craps player a $5 pass line bet. On the surface, it might appear that the blackjack player is playing with more money and with higher risk of ruin. In reality, however, the blackjack player will usually win or lose their $15. Occasionally, they will hit blackjack and win more than their original bet, and sometimes they will split or double to increase their bets. Splitting and doubling are good for the player - they tend to decrease the house edge because players will only double and split in situations which are favourable to the player.
The craps player, on the other hand, will place their $5 pass line bet, and immediately they should be placing odds bets. If the house allows a 3x odds bet, the player should place $15 more in bets, and now they are betting more than the blackjack player (assuming no splits). More importantly, it is common in craps to bet on the come bets or to place on numbers (6 and 8 are popular), which means even more money goes on the table. It is not inconceivable that, betting the minimum on a $5 minimum table, the craps player may be risking as much as half their stake on the roll of the dice. This can make a player's craps session very, very quick and even more painful. You'll also understand, now, why craps has been a downfall of many successful poker players. As the bets increase, the meager house edge adds up. Even if the house was only averaging 0.60% on the craps player's bets, the house would be raking in as much as ($150*0.006=) 90 cents on each throw of the dice.
By contrast, the house is making only somewhere in the range of ($15*0.01=) 15 cents on the blackjack player. As a result, the blackjack player has far less of a house edge to overcome, and with skillful play can win a lot (if not always, or necessarily in the "long run") by playing blackjack.
So, perhaps, the smart gambler would choose a house game like blackjack over craps if they were interested in a game which offered a realistic chance to win money with less risk of ruin. And the last thing you want, is to 'break the house' when the house is your own bankroll.
In many ways, playing winning poker requires you to conduct yourself like the House in a gambling game. Just as the House edge in a table game means the House will take a certain percentage of the action in the long run, your edge in poker means you will win a certain percentage of the hands you play. If you are a good player, you could have, say, a 3% edge on your opponents in a cash game. This means if you approach the game from a long-run perspective, that your time playing will net you the same kind of return that a casino will make by spreading a House game with a 3% edge. Ever seen a game of three-card poker at the local casino? That game, depending on the pay table and the bet(s) chosen, has a house edge of around 3%.
It has been written in some sources (such as Barry Greenstein's Ace on the River) that a professional poker player should try to conduct their poker business as the casino conducts their house games. House games are all the games in a casino where the player plays against the casino, and in these games, the casino always has an edge. This 'house edge' runs between less than 1% and more than 10%, depending on the bet. For professional poker players, an edge of 2-3% is usually required for sustaining one's bankroll. Anything less than this will invite too little earning and too much variance. Anything more than this is hardly sustainable. So poker players have to concentrate on making sure they can find spots where they can get their edge, and on protecting their bankroll, which essentially takes the place of the house's float.
When you are a professional poker player, keeping your game sharp, choosing your games properly and protecting your bankroll are the keys to ensuring that no one 'breaks the house'… when you are the house!
Nonetheless, sometimes poker players who are used to having a long-run edge (whether or not they are professionals), will choose to play house games for enjoyment. Just playing poker all day, either in one's house or at the casino, can become a drag. When a poker player decides to spend some money playing in a house game, they have some important decisions to make:
Type of game
The variety of house games available today is immense. With the advent of online gaming, one can easily access several different kinds of gambling.
Just as one would choose a poker game carefully, one must choose house games carefully. Slot machines and Keno generally feature the largest house edge, meaning that they cost the player the most money to play. Essentially, there are only two winners in slots and keno games - the house, which can take as much as ten cents on the dollar out of the players pocket (and sometimes more), and those who get lucky enough to win a jackpot, for whom the laws of probability have granted a reprieve.
If one wishes to practice proper (house) game selection, blackjack and craps are two examples of better choices for the smart gambler.
Craps: this game features a relatively low house edge on many bets. Pass line bets have a 1.41% edge, and depending on the 'odds' (the additional bets made after the come out roll), you can reduce this edge even more. With single odds you're throwing dice under 0.85%, and with double odds it's only a 0.61% house edge. Nonetheless, there are many bets in craps that feature a high house edge. Bets like the field, the hard ways, the horn and others, will make the house a lot more money than betting on the pass line.
Another caveat - many high-stakes poker players are large losers in craps. For some, it is the "Achilles heel" of their bankroll. It is because you can bet so much in this game, and lose so much on one throw of the dice, that even with a long-run house edge of less than 1%, players can lose thousands of dollars when the wrong number appears. Therefore, even though a smart gambler is more likely to choose craps over say a slot machine, the truly smart gambler will be careful about how much they bet on any house game!
Blackjack: Blackjack is the most common house game there is, aside perhaps from slot machines. You will be hard-pressed to find any casino (brick-and-mortar or online) which does not feature a blackjack game. Thankfully, this is also one of the best games in terms of house edge, especially when one uses optimal strategy. Unlike a slot machine or a keno card, one can affect the house edge by playing smart strategy. Very experienced blackjack players can even gain an edge over the house, if they are able to keep a strong count on the cards and know when to press their bets (and when to rescind). Blackjack odds can differ depending on structure - the player's odds improve with fewer decks, with higher blackjack payouts (the best is 3:2), and with the addition of surrender if correctly used. Commonly, blackjack features a house edge of equal to or less than 1%.
Even though both craps and blackjack feature similar house edges on the smart bets, there is one advantage of blackjack over craps even if one cannot count cards well-enough to surpass the entire house edge. With blackjack, although splitting and doubling will increase the amount bet, it is by no means as much as the ballooning effect that can occur on craps bets.
Allow me to explain. Two gamblers are playing, one at blackjack and the other at craps. Each starts with $300. The blackjack player places a $15 bet, and the craps player a $5 pass line bet. On the surface, it might appear that the blackjack player is playing with more money and with higher risk of ruin. In reality, however, the blackjack player will usually win or lose their $15. Occasionally, they will hit blackjack and win more than their original bet, and sometimes they will split or double to increase their bets. Splitting and doubling are good for the player - they tend to decrease the house edge because players will only double and split in situations which are favourable to the player.
The craps player, on the other hand, will place their $5 pass line bet, and immediately they should be placing odds bets. If the house allows a 3x odds bet, the player should place $15 more in bets, and now they are betting more than the blackjack player (assuming no splits). More importantly, it is common in craps to bet on the come bets or to place on numbers (6 and 8 are popular), which means even more money goes on the table. It is not inconceivable that, betting the minimum on a $5 minimum table, the craps player may be risking as much as half their stake on the roll of the dice. This can make a player's craps session very, very quick and even more painful. You'll also understand, now, why craps has been a downfall of many successful poker players. As the bets increase, the meager house edge adds up. Even if the house was only averaging 0.60% on the craps player's bets, the house would be raking in as much as ($150*0.006=) 90 cents on each throw of the dice.
By contrast, the house is making only somewhere in the range of ($15*0.01=) 15 cents on the blackjack player. As a result, the blackjack player has far less of a house edge to overcome, and with skillful play can win a lot (if not always, or necessarily in the "long run") by playing blackjack.
So, perhaps, the smart gambler would choose a house game like blackjack over craps if they were interested in a game which offered a realistic chance to win money with less risk of ruin. And the last thing you want, is to 'break the house' when the house is your own bankroll.
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