Most UK online casinos refer to Payout when they are advertising their benefits. This is a method of comparing online and land based casinos and with the rise in popularity of online gambling, this term has become prevalent, as online casino sites fight for market share.

But what does Payout mean exactly? Many UK casinos state they have payouts of 94%, 95% etc, but what does this number refer to?

The Definition of Casino Payout

The Payout of a casino is the % of money it returns to the betting pool from its players wagers.

So, for example, say 5000 people are playing at Golden Palace online casino which gives a Payout of just less than 97%. Lets say each customer in the casino makes a deposit of £100 and over the next day or so makes wagers that total £100. The total amount of bets over this period for everyone is 5000 x 100 or £500,000.

At the end of this period which we have made up for this example, GoldenPalace would on average take a certain amount of money away for the running of its operarations, profit etc. This is the house edge. At a payout of 97%, it takes a margin of 3% to run its casino, or £15,000, with 97% left in for the prize pool, or £485,000. This isn´t equally distributed through all of the players however, as probably a few people win big amounts. One person might even win the whole lot.

So on the surface, this doen´t seem too bad- the casino only bills 35 or £15,000 out of a pot of £ 0.5 million. But the thing to bear in mind that there are 5000 people who on average have lost £3. (Some will have lost more and others will have won more).

Also keep in mind that the aim of most casinos is to keep you in the casino playing! That´s why they offer free drinks in Vegas. So instead of just betting your £100 once, they are hoping that you bet it it twice over, three times over or even more. (CASINO secret. The average wager ratio (total betting amount / initial deposit) is around 20 times).

Now work out the maths. Say you lose £3 of your £100 every play, and you bet your deposit 20 times over- you would be something like £60 down.

Which sounds more like the numbers we would expect - the house always wins!
So why do people play at casinos in the first place?

Well for one, its great entertainment- played sensibly, there is nothing quite like the buzz of having a punt on the tables and even though the house always wins (which let´s face it is no big secret), people also win big, just like there are new millionaires created at the lottery. People play at casinos for the fun and excitement (it is JUST entertainment), and because there is always the possibility that they might win big. You just need to keep your wits about you and remember to play responsibly. Only play with money you can afford to lose. Treat gambling as a form of entertainment and don´t spend more than you budgeted. And if you win big- stop! Take the cash!