Advantage gambling
methods of gaining an advantage in gambling in casino games
Advantage gambling, or advantage play, refers to legal methods used to gain an advantage while gambling, in contrast to cheating. The term usually refers to house-banked casino games, but can also refer to games played against other players, such as poker. Someone who practices advantage gambling is often referred to as an advantage player, or AP. Unlike cheating—which is by definition illegal—advantage play exploits innate characteristics of a particular game to give the player an advantage relative to the house or other players. While not illegal, successful advantage play may result in players being banned by certain casinos.
A skillful or knowledgeable player can gain an advantage at a number of games. Card games have been won by card sharps for centuries. Some slot machines and lotteries with progressive jackpots can eventually have such a high jackpot that they offer a positive return when played over the long term, according to gambling mathematics. However, this method requires information that is often difficult to acquire regarding the settings of the specific slot machine, details of the specific casino, knowledge of statistics and probability, and a large enough bankroll to withstand the inevitable volatility. Some online games can be beaten with bonus hunting.
Examples
Special offers
Using special offers provided by bookmakers, it is possible for a skilled bettor to put the odds in their favor.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Advantage gambling” as methods of gaining an advantage in gambling in casino games. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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This entry incorporates text from “Advantage gambling” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.