Spin the roulette wheel

Another way the casino makes money is to pay out less than the true odds. Take roulette: With 38 numbers on the wheel, your odds of guessing the winning number are 37 to 1. So you bravely place a $100 bet on a single number and hit it. Congratulations! After you quit jumping up and down and kissing the cocktail server, dealer, and anyone else who couldn’t quickly escape, you collect $3,500.

But, wait a minute. $3,500 means a payoff of 35 to 1. What happened to the true odds of 37 to 1? The fact is, even though you win, your payoff is less than the true odds. The bottom line? Casinos take $200 out of every $3,800 wagere, which leaves the house with a hefty edge of 5.26 percent.