What Is Advantage Play?

Short Answer: Within the casino, advantage play is using a skill like card counting or dice control to actually change the odds in your favor. Similarly, in living life, we can change 'the spiritual odds' in our favor by seeking the blessings that come from having a Savior and playing the rules of the Kingdom of Heaven rather than having the curses that come by playing the rules of the world and the Kingdom of Darkness.

Changing the Odds

Why Understand Randomness and Statistics? describes in detail why no betting strategy in the world will be able to beat the house edge. It further explains how betting strategies decide how much risk a person wants to take in regards to the randomness of the game involved. It also states why no amount of 'perfect play' or 'perfect strategy' can overcome the statistics of the house edge. To beat the house edge requires something significantly stronger than just a betting strategy. That something is called 'Advantage Play'.

Advantage play is using your own skill to change the odds of winning / losing in your favor. An advantage player is one who will very selectively play casino games where he actually is able to change or manipulate the odds in his favor. Typically, this means either being capable of the mental acrobatics of card counting or having the manual dexterity and coordination for dice setting and control. There is also a few types of slots (must-hit-by and pseudo-must-hit-by) which give an indicator of how close one is to winning a jackpot / bonus round; however, these one must come across by chance as someone else must leave the machine in an advantage state – it has no bearing on your own skill. Thus, it is very limited.

Advantage play is not easy. It requires considerable practice and then experience in a full casino environment. You may well be able to count cards in the privacy and quiet of your home … but in the casino, you have people entering and exiting the table, noises from other gaming tables and machines, the waitress asking if you want a drink, and dealing with your wagers all while trying to count the cards. It is a difficult task … but the results of your game are noticeably better than if you were not counting at all.

Wager, Bet, and Gamble at the Same Time

Earlier we defined 'wager' as to risk loss in an attempt to win, gamble' is a wager on a random event, and bet' is a wager on skill. Advantage play in a casino brings all three of these together … in a complex way that adds an element of betting to the randomness. A person is wagering. A person is gambling on the randomness of the game (and also against the house edge the casino has built into the game). Finally, the person is betting that their own skill (card counting, dice control, etc.) is strong enough to overcome both the randomness of the game and the house edge of the casino. As anyone who has played in the casino can attest, this is no easy task.

Advantage play does not mean you will win, win, win. Often, at table games you will win about 48% of the time and lose 52% of the time. That is all it takes for the casino to make a lot of money from each player. With advantage play, you might reverse that number and win 52% of the time and lose 48% … and that is all you need to gain over time. With more practice, or with better counting methods, one might be able to change the odds slightly more. Any which way, it is work and it is a long term strategy. There will still be winning and losing streaks to get through due to randomness.

Advantage Play in Real Life

This page is under construction. My apologies for any misspellings, repeated text, missing references, etc. Please visit again later for a more complete treatment of this topic.