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Games to avoid: Sucker Bets
You will find lots of information on our site that helps you find
the best casino games online, and which strategies you should use
to maximize your winnings (or minimize your losses as some say).
For example, we recently examined and compared all video
poker, let it
ride and caribbean
poker offerings from five of the biggest online casino software
companies.
While we certainly intend to write more articles like that in the
future, we will take a completely different approach in the one
you are reading right now. Instead of telling you what the best
games to play are, where you can find them, and how you should play
them optimally, we will give you a brief overview of five games
you should *not* play. Each game is unique and has it's own set
of rules, but all five of them have one thing in common: they offer
some of the worse odds in online and offline gaming. Collectively
we refer to these games as "sucker games", and to the
bets that you can place on them as "sucker bets".
Sucker game Top 5
Keno & Lottery
In Keno you pick between 1 and 15 (10) spots on a 80 number
sheet. In each round 20 numbers are drawn randomly. Depending
on how much numbers drawn match the numbers you selected, you
are paid out according to the pay table, which varies with each
bet (how many numbers you picked).
A typical casino Keno game has an house edge of 30%. Some
bets on Video Keno offer considerably better odds though.
Keno is a close relative of the Lottery, a game that even
tops Keno in providing bad bets, with an expectation of 50%.
Big Six
In Big Six you can bet on the $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, Joker and
Casino symbol. Each symbol occurs with a certain frequency on
the money wheel. The less a symbol appears the higher it pays
when hit, according to the following pay table:
| Symbol |
Payout |
| 1 |
1 to 1 |
| 2 |
2 to 1 |
| 5 |
5 to 1 |
| 10 |
10 to 1 |
| 20 |
20 to 1 |
| Joker or Casino |
40 to1 |
Though Big Six looks a bit like Roulette, it's definitely
not worth playing with an house edge ranging between 11% and
24% for the various bets offered. |
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Red Dog Poker
After placing your initial bet two cards are drawn in Red Dog
Poker. If they match (suits are ignored and Aces count as 11),
a third card is drawn. If the third card also matches (three
of a kind) you are paid out 11 to 1. If it doesn't it's a push.
If the first two cards don't match, the spread is calculated
as the number of cards between the lowest and the highest card
drawn. If the spread is zero, it's a push. If the spread is
one or more you have the option to raise your bet. A third card
is dealt. If the third card falls outside the range you lose.
If it's inside the range you are paid out according to the following
pay table:
| Spread |
Payout |
| 1 |
5 to 1 |
| 2 |
4 to 1 |
| 3 |
2 to 1 |
| 4+ |
1 to 1 |
The house edge on Red Dog Poker depends on the pay table
used, and the number of decks, but is always more than 3%
for the games we checked online.
Sic Bo
In Sic Bo you can make a wide variety of bets on the outcome
of a roll (spin) of three dice. Most bets have an house edge
between 7% up to 18%, except for the High and Low bets, with
an house edge of 2.78%.
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In conclusion
We have labeled Keno, the Lottery, Big Six, Red Dog Poker and Sic
Bo as "sucker games", games to avoid. This is merely our
opinion, based on the high house edge that comes with these games.
It's entirely up to you to decide if you do or don't want to play
these games. In the "short term" it's possible to win (or
lose) considerable sums of money, even when playing "sucker games".
In the "long term" you will lose more money playing these
games, when compared to for example Blackjack or Video Poker.
More sucker games
6:5 Blackjack - An article
by Kenneth R Smith from BlackjackInfo.com.
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