Some Notes About Cost

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Cost Per Hour

Now that we have calculated the expected values for several games, let us do a comparative cost analysis. We will consider us to be intelligent gamblers, that is, we will only wager on the maximum bet. The table below gives the approximate expected loss for a $10 bet and approximately how many games per hour are played at each table.

	Roulette	Craps	Black Jack	Poker	Keno
Expected Value	-0.53	-0.14	-0.20	-0.37	-3.93
Games per Hour	60	80	80	50	12

The estimates for games per hour are very rough. They are based on a few hours observing full tables. We can figure out the cost of playing by multiplying the expected value by the number of games per hour:

Roulette: $31.80 Per Hour

Craps: $11.20 Per Hour

Black Jack: $16 Per Hour

Poker: $18.50 Per Hour

Keno: $47.16 Per Hour

Note that if we just play a $5 bet at each, the games have a more reasonable cost. Remember, these numbers assume that the game is played following all of the optimal strategies. These numbers do not including tipping the dealer, which raises the cost significantly.

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