Review of Odds On casino software

Last update: April 25, 2007

Double-up software bug statement: From April 13 to May 2, 2006 there was a software bug affecting double-up bets in video poker on casinos using Odds On software. For more information please see my statement on the matter.

Disclaimer: Let it be known that I have served as a consultant to Odds On. This review attempts to be unbiased and mostly sticks to the game rules, odds, and strategy. While I feel comfortable there is no conflict of interest I think it is appropriate to disclose the relationship.

Odds On has a good selection of games, with many games unique to Odds On. The odds vary from stingy to competitive depending on the game. In general the games of skill tend to offer good odds (although blackjack is an exception) and games of luck are more tight.

This unique game to Odds On lets the player bets on the winner or exacta (Odds On calls it a forecast) in a six horse race. Each bet pays a different amount. Each horse has lots of history and statistics to look at. Assuming each bet has the same house edge the expected return would be about 80% on win bets and 75% on exactas.

This is a unique game to Odds On in which balls are randomly drawn, with replacement, on a 5 by 5 matrix. According to Odds On the return is 93.7%.

• Four decks
• Dealer stands on soft 17
• Double on 9 to 11 only
• No doubling after splitting
• No resplitting
• Player may not draw to split aces
• No surrender
• Full no peek (player loses total amount bet against dealer blackjack)
• Insurance not resolved until end of hand
• Betting limits: $2-$200

Following is the correct basic strategy for these rules.

The house edge under these rules is 0.73%, the highest I have seen on the Internet.

There is also a game called "progressive blackjack" which features a $1 side bet. The following table shows the pay table based on the $13,559 meter on September 27, 2002.

The lower right cell shows a return of 32.25%, or a house edge of 67.75%! For the meter to have no house edge it would need to reach $180209.81.

There are win bets, which work and pay the same way as place bets. To bet against a place number the player can make a "lose bet." These pay 2-5 on the 4 and 10, 4-7 on the 5 and 9, and 4-5 on the 6 and 8. The house on these bets is 6.67%, 5.71%, and 1.82% respectively.

The proposition bets pay the same bad odds as conventional craps.

This is a unique game to Odds On that pays based on the roll of 25 poker dice in a 5 by 5 matrix. The odds on each hand are the same. The following table shows the expected return is 93.36%.

This is another unique game to Odds On in which the player bets on one of four horses in a horse race. Following is how much the player wins based on the position of the chosen horse.

• First: 2 for 1
• Second: 1 for 1
• Third: 1 for 2
• Fourth: 0

Assuming a 25% chance of each position, and I don't know this to be an accurate assumption, the return would be 87.5%.

This is a unique game to Odds On in which the player draws a card from a 52-card deck and then bets on what a face down card will be. Player may bet on higher, lower, black, red, club, spade, heart, or diamond. The return ranges from 92.3% to 96.0%, depending on the bet and the first card.

The betting limits on the ante are $1-$200.

The strategy is still the same as for the conventional pay table game. The house edge under these rules is 5.03%. This is better than the 5.22% house edge for the conventional pay table.

In addition there is a progressive side bet. The side bet is always $1 and pays as follows.

The house edge on the side bet is 63.76% less 2.92% for each $10,000 in the meter. On October 9, 2001, the meter at both the English Harbour and Silver Dollar casinos was at $62,216. For the side bet to have no house edge the meter would need to reach $218,047.37

This is the same thing as Let it Ride. In this version the player starts with one bet and has two opportunities to add to it, as opposed to taking bets away in the land casinos. However the math is the same. The normal pay table is used, with a house edge of 3.51%. The side bet follows a 30000/3000/400/200/50/25/5 pay table for a house edge of 9.40%.

This poker variation was developed by myself and is played only at Odds On casinos. For all the information please visit my section on Mulligan Poker.

This is a unique game to Odds On that pays based on a single throw of five poker dice. The table below shows an expected return of 91.82%.

This is a unique game to Odds On in which 25 cards are chosen with replacement into a 5 by 5 matrix. The player is paid according to the poker value of each row, column, and diagonal. The following table shows the odds for any given line. The bottom right cell shows a return of 93.42%.

A single deck is used for a house edge of 3.16% using basic staregy. For more information on Red Dog please visit my Red Dog section.

There are 40 slot games to choose from. The player may choose from coinages of $0.50, $1.00, $5.00, and $10.00. I have no public information about the theoretical or actual return.

This is obviously the same thing as Three Card Poker. Both the Pair+ and the Ante bonus follow the "full pay" rules. This results in a house edge of 2.32% on the Pair+ and 3.37% on the Ante.

OddsOn offers the many of the same video poker games and paytables as Microgaming. All games are available in 1-play and 4-play versions, plus deuces wild is available in 10, 50, and 100-play. The player may choose from coinages of $0.50, $1.00, $5.00, and $10.00. Four out of six games have a return of at least 99%, however none are over 100%. The following tables shows the return of all six gams available assuming optimal strategy.

The following tables display the pertinent statistics for OddsON's video poker games.

One deck is used and the player wins his original bet only on a tie after a tie. The house edge is 2.42% when going to war on ties.

For more information about War please visit my Casino War section.

See my casino index for a list of sites that use OddsON software. The URL for OddsON is www.oddson.com.