The term ‘fixed odds’ is often misunderstood and the source of quite a bit of confusion. Simply put, a ‘fixed odds’ casino game is defined as any game where your actions do not affect your chances of winning. It shouldn’t be confused with the payout ratio, which is the published list of how much each bet will payout.
For example, slots is a fixed odds game where your odds of winning on each spin is always the same. On the other hand blackjack is not a fixed odds game, because your odds of winning will differ depending on the choices that you make during the game (i.e. to draw or not to draw).
Strategy and Decisions Don’t Affect Fixed Odds
Now that you understand that, it should be clear that by definition, strategy does not matter when playing casino games with fixed odds. No matter what strategy you choose to use or what decisions you make, your odds of winning are going to always remain the same. Of course, the opposite is true of games that do not have fixed odds – and your strategy will be extremely important there.
In many ways the fact that strategy and decisions don’t matter is part of the appeal of fixed odds. Rather than forcing you to think and decide on a course of action, fixed odds games can be played in a relaxing manner. Unfortunately as much as this is the case there are constantly people who fall into the trap of believing that a certain ‘strategy’ will help them with fixed odds games – so just make sure you aren’t one of them.
Betting Does Affect Payout
It is important to note the slight exception to this rule however. While your strategy and decisions will never affect your odds of winning, the decision of how much you bet could affect how much you’re paid out because of the non-linear nature of some payout ratios.
For example, in a game of slots you might be paid out 2:1 for all bets, but you might be paid out 2.5:1 if you bet the maximum bet. That encourages players to play the maximum bet (i.e. spend more money), but it also means that if you play less than the maximum bet you could ‘lose out’ in terms of payout when you do win.
The reason why it is important to remember this exception is because it is a good rule of thumb to follow: If a fixed odds game has a betting ratio that provides bigger payouts for the maximum bet, it would be best to always play the maximum bet so that you can cash in on it if you do win.
Be sure to keep this in mind the next time you’re playing mobile slots or any other fixed odds game. Aside from that one exception however, the fact of the matter is that you really don’t have to worry about anything else and will be able to relax while you play and enjoy your winnings.
