Anybody that has ever played, and lost, at a casino, whether online or brick and mortar, may have at some point questioned…
It is a logical question, as anytime that you lose your hard-earned cash, you want to know that the casino is legit and that you weren’t cheated.
First things first, let’s define what the word rigged actually means!
Are Casino Games Rigged?
This question is a bit of a complicated one, as on the surface, yes, all casino games are rigged in favor of the house. We have all heard the term, the house always wins, and that is indeed the case, as the casino holds a mathematical edge on each and every game that they offer.
The casino isn’t gambling when you play, you are! But just because the casino has a mathematical edge, we will go into exactly what that means in more detail here in a minute, doesn’t necessarily mean that the games are rigged.
For me, as long as the casino transparently establishes rules and regulations on the game, and they follow them exactly, I wouldn’t consider any casino game rigged. Now, if the casino offers a game, and they don’t follow those rules and regulations, then it has to come into question as to whether or not it is actually rigged.
If the exact payouts for a game aren’t listed either on the layout for a table game, or in the options menu of a slot machine, that is a major red flag that things might not be on the up and up.
Some gamblers might think that one game holding more money than another game might be a sign that the game is rigged, but that just isn’t the case, as each game is designed with a specific house edge, or hold, in mind, and none of these games are going to payout the exact same percentage.
As a player, there are lots of resources out there than can tell you what the casino holds on a particular game, and if that is something that you are interested in, I would suggest you look into it before you put your money on the line.
How Do Casino’s Make Their Money?
We have already talked about how each game has a built-in hold, or house edge, and now we are going to dive deeper into that, to make sure you understand exactly what that means.
Where a lot of people get confused when it comes to the casino’s edge, is what math experts call the law of large numbers. To put it simply, the casino deals in VERY large numbers, whereas the gambler, does not. The casino might win or lose on any given bet, but over enough time, all of these games are going to end up making them close to what the mathematical edge of that specific game actually is. As a player, we might play for a couple of hands, rolls, or handle pulls, but the casino has millions of those potential outcomes per year.
And, they get to the long run in a hurry. While there is always going to be short term variance, if you play long enough, the casino is always going to win.
Have you ever seen a slot machine that is advertised as a 99% payback? That is the casino highlighting the RTP of that game.
RTP is basically the exact inverse of casino hold, as it tells you what the casino is going to give back to players instead of telling you how much the casino is going to keep.
One way that casinos can “trick” you when it comes to RTP is progressive jackpots. Progressives are very popular in both online casinos and brick and mortar casinos, as players love an opportunity to make a small wager and win a huge payout!
Even if you played the same game every day for a month, you wouldn’t come close to having enough play to get to the long run mathematical hold on a game.
On some progressive games, the machine might overhold for years before a player finally hits the big jackpot, which catches everything up all at once.
The Difference Between Theo and Actual Hold
One last thing to consider when it comes to casino edge and RTP, is that those percentages are based on the theoretical hold, not the actual hold, and that a player’s skill can change those percentages drastically.
Some games have no player decision, and there is no way to play that specific game in a manner that’s better or worse than the next player.
A slot machine is a great example of this, as no matter how you push that spin button, you aren’t going to have any better or worse odds of winning than anyone else.
But in a game like Blackjack, where there is a clear and defined strategy, your decisions make a difference, and the actual hold for one player is going to be different from other players. That does not change the theoretical hold in any way, but it does change the actual hold.
This tends to be another point of confusion for players when it comes to establishing whether or not a casino is rigged, as a game like Blackjack, which has a theoretical hold of around 2%, depending on the specific rule set of the table, has an actual hold of more than 10%.
Some gamblers see that gap between theo and actual, as the casino being rigged, but in reality, that just shows us that the vast majority of Blackjack players don’t play optimum strategy, which leads to significantly higher losses and higher hold for the casino. I know all of this math talk and industry jargon like hold, house advantage, theo, actual, and RTP might be a little confusing, but at the end of the day, if you don’t understand how a casino makes its money when it isn’t rigged, you have no way of knowing when you do run into a casino game that might be rigged.
In this final section, we are going to provide you with some red flags that could signal that a casino is rigged, as well as give you ways to make sure that when you are gambling, that the establishment taking your action is legit.
Are Casinos Rigged? How To Tell
Now that we have established that casinos are set up to take your money, and that doesn’t mean that they are rigged, we are going to highlight some of the red flags that will help you identify when a casino actually is rigged!
I would hope that all of you out there would avoid playing the 3-card Monte game on the street corner, or a game of dice run by your local criminals, so I won’t spend too much time talking about those types of operations and instead focus on seemingly reputable casinos instead.
Red Flags For Brick and Mortar Casinos
- Pay tables are not posted or clearly defined
- Rule sets are not available when requested
- There are limitations on how much and when you are able to cash out
- The casino is not licensed by any state or local government regulatory board
- Betting limits are changed during your play based on your results
- The casino refuses your action when you are winning
While that is certainly not an exhaustive list of everything you need to be on the watch for when you are playing in a brick and mortar casino, it is a good start.
Next, we are going to take a look at some red flags for online casinos.
Red Flags For Online Casinos
- Pay tables are not posted or clearly defined
- Rule sets are not available when requested
- There are limitations on how much and when you are able to cash out
- The online casino is not licensed by any state, local government, or online regulatory board
- Betting limits are changed during your play based on your results
- The online casino refuses your action when you are winning
- The online casino does not honor their promotions or offers
- The online casino freezes your account or cash out without proper communication or justification
- The online casino has poor reviews
- The online casino is on our list of blacklist casinos
As you can see, many of these red flags can be very similar for brick and mortar and online casinos, as a casino is a casino, and many of the ways that they operate are consistent.
The best way that you can protect yourself from playing a rigged casino game, is to always check our blacklist casino list before ever making a deposit at an online casino.
Referencing our blacklist can go a long way toward confirming your suspicion to see if that online casino has a history of being a bad actor.
Wrap Up
Casino gaming can be a lot of fun and as long as you make sure that you are playing with reputable establishments as you can feel a lot better about getting a fair gamble.
Now that you have a better understanding of how casinos make their money, and that just because they are going to have an edge over you on every bet that you make, that they aren’t rigged, you can make your bets without second-guessing your decisions.
