When it comes to playing at online casinos it is always advisable to understand the odds and payout rates involved in the casino game you intend to play. Ideally, before placing a bet you should analyse your odds of winning at a particular game or betting option within the game, and decide whether or not it’s something you’re willing to risk or play.
If you’ve done any research into analysing betting odds, you’ve probably come across the term “fixed odd betting games“, a term which is often misunderstood by new players. Here we’ll look at what fixed odd betting and casino games really entail.
Fixed Odds Betting
As the name implies, fixed odd casino bets or casino games are games and wagering options that will always offer the same odds, no matter what. So, for example, a single bet in the game of Roulette will always offer 35 to 1 odds. While the majority of online casino games offer fixed odds, there are however games whose variations do not.
A prime example of a game with variable odds is that of blackjack. This may seem confusing as when you win the payout is always same (comparable to your betting value of course), however the odds are variable based on how skilfully you play the game. So it is important not to confuse payouts and odds, because odds can change but payouts generally stay the same.
Types of Fixed Odds Betting Systems
When it comes to fixed odds betting systems, there are four main types, namely:
- Fractional Odds: These are the games offered by bookmakers in the UK. As the name implies, the odds in these games is expressed as a fraction. So for example, your team is offered 5/1 or Five-to-One odds, which means that you’ll be able to win £100 on a £20 wager, and if you win, will end up with a total of £120. Games or betting options that offer fractional odds of 1:1 are referred to as “even money” games.
- Decimal Odds Systems: A casino or sportsbook that offers games with decimal values is said to offer decimal odds betting. These systems are generally more common in Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and this system is therefore referred to as “European Odds”. Decimal Odds systems offer the same payouts as their Fractional odds counterparts, but just differ in terms of their definition. To illustrate by way of our example, if you place a £100 wager on a game that offers 1.20 odds you will get $120 upon winning the bet, making this type of fixed odds betting easy to understand.
- Moneyline Odds: These odds are generally offered by US based casinos and bookmakers, and as such are regularly referred to as American odds. They offer just two possible options on an outcome, either positive or negative, so these bets are made on the straight-up result of a game without taking the system of points spread into account.
- Even Odds: These refer to fixed odds expressed as either +100 or -100.
Popular Fixed Odds Casino Games
If you’re looking to play a fixed odds casino game, the following are popular options:
- American & European Roulette both offer fixed odds.
- Certain Craps bets such as the Pass/Come and Don’t Pass/Don’t Come options have fixed odds.
- Keno – these games has different odds values but they are all fixed.
- Bingo – This game always offers the same odds no matter where you play.