Reason I like Bodog #5:

Intelligent Bonuses

Many online casinos give you a big matching bonus when you sign up and make a deposit, but there's a catch. You have to do a lot of betting before you're allowed to cash out your winnings, and play on the most popular games doesn't count! It's common for blackjack, craps, baccarat, roulette, and Jacks or Better to be excluded. Sometimes it's everything but slots.

And sometimes you can't even find the fine print. Many casinos put their 100% bonus in big screaming letters but make you hunt all over the site to find the rules.

That's why Bodog is a welcome relief. They allow play on just about every game to count towards the wagering requirement (everything except Pontoon and Caribbean 21). It's that simple. Just no opposite betting, like both red & black on roulette at the same time. All casinos ought to be as easy as Bodog about this.

Bodog's signup bonus is a modest 10%, but it's simple. The wagering requirement in order to cash out the bonus is 15x the deposit plus the bonus, and play on just about every game satisfies the requirement.

Finally, at some other casinos if they think you're abusing their bonus offers, they'll actually seize your winnings. Frankly, that's criminal. But if Bodog suspects you of bonus abuse they'll still pay you, they just might not offer you any future bonuses.

Play for free, no B.S.
One click and you're in.

Expected Loss

Expected Loss is somewhat of a misnomer. It's not the value you actually expect to lose. It's the mathematical average loss. So whoever came up with the term "expected loss" did a bad job. They should have called it "average loss".

An example illustrates the difference. The house edge in roulette is 5.26%. So for every $5 bet the casino will keep $0.26 on average. So your "expected loss" on a $5 roulette bet is $0.26.

But if you bet $5 on roulette you can't lose exactly $0.26. If you bet on red or black, you'll either win another $5 or lose the whole thing. So you don't really expect to lose $0.26, it's just your mathematical average loss.

So why do we even talk about expected loss if you can't lose exactly the amount it predicts on one play? Because the longer you play, the more likely your actual loss will be the expected loss. Let's say you play 1,000 spins on roulette, at $1 a spin, betting on red every time. You win 475 times and lose 525 times. So you got back $950 (475 wins, plus you get your original wager back), and you risked $1,000. That means you lost $50. The percentage you lost was $50 / 1000 = 5%, which is pretty close to the 5.26% mathematical average.

Expected loss is good for comparing the risk of various games. It depends on three factors:

How much you're betting (the amount per hand),
How fast you're playing (hands per hour), and
The house edge (the average casino profit per bet)

In formula form, it's:

Wager x House Edge x Number of Hands = Expected Loss

As a practical example we'll use blackjack at $5/hand for two hours, assuming you use the proper strategy:

$5 x 0.5% x 60 hands/hr x 2 hrs. = $3

Below is a table showing your expected loss after 16 hours of play, using common house edges and common rates of play

Game Hands Per Hour (HPH) House Edge Expected Loss for 16 hours of play

Slots, 0.05
Slots, 0.25
Slots, 1.00
800 8.0% (5 coins)
6.0% (3 coins)
5.0% (2 coins) $256
$576
$1,280

Roulette, $5/spin
40 5.26% (American)
2.7% (European) $168 (American)
$86 (European)

Baccarat, $25/hand
MiniBaccarat, $5/h.
60
150 1.06% (betting on Banker) $254
$127

Blackjack, $5/hand
100 0.50% (with perfect play) $40

Craps, $10/round
($5 Pass, $5 odds)
30
(Pass Line Bets) 1.41%* $34

*House edge in Craps applies to pass line bet only; odds bets have no house edge

Calculate your own expected loss. Since you'll likely be playing for a different amount of time and at a different betting level, you can calculate the expected loss for your particular situation with this formula:

  Amount wagered per hand X Hands per hour X Hours played X House edge = Expected Loss

Crash Course in Table Games. If you're a slot player and wish you knew how to play table games so you could stop losing money hand over fist, then check out our Crash Course in Table Games.

Table Game Speed. The rate of play at table games depends on the casino's style and how many other players are playing, but the values in the table are good estimates. Larger casinos tend to make their dealers deal at a fast pace, which not only makes you lose quicker but probably decreases your enjoyment of playing since it's not friendly and relaxed. If the play in one casino is too fast, try a smaller casino (especially one Downtown instead of on the Strip). Also realize that the more players at a table, the slower the game. You'll be playing a lot faster if you're the only one at a table.

Slot speed. The rate of play on slots, of course, depends on how fast you push the button. Also note that playing off credits is faster than playing off coins. Either way, unlike table games, you're more in control the pace.

Slot returns. Slot returns in the table are the average for Las Vegas Strip & Downtown casinos as published in the Jan. 2002 Casino Player. But of course, you'll need to play in a casino which lists its slot returns to make sure you get them. In fact, you might be able to find better returns than in this table. On the Vegas Strip, Stratosphere and Riveria have 98% dollar slots (2% house edge). Downtown, Fitzgerald's has 98% nickel slots.

Blackjack & Craps Edge. The low edge for blackjack assumes that you use proper Basic Strategy. The edge for craps assumes you're taking single odds.

a d v e r t i s e m e n t s

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