Optimal House Edge for Casino

Is there any standard house edge for a new game? What are casinos looking for as far as a house edge?

I am not at all sure that the casinos use House Edge as a criteria.

Simplicity: for dealers and players, even drunk ones to learn.

Safety: No arm reaching or body blocking opportunities that would drive surveillance mad.

Speed of play.

Appeal: Half drunk players milling about .... what strikes their fancy?

Quote: FleaStiff

I am not at all sure that the casinos use House Edge as a criteria.

Simplicity: for dealers and players, even drunk ones to learn.

Safety: No arm reaching or body blocking opportunities that would drive surveillance mad.

Speed of play.

Appeal: Half drunk players milling about .... what strikes their fancy?

Right. There obviously needs to be a workable edge and expectation that the game will perform, but beyond that the operational considerations you listed are more important in distinguishing one game from another. A game with 20 hands/hour and a 3-page player strategy is going to get less floor space than a game with the same edge (or even less) but with 40 or 60 hands/hour and a one-line player strategy.

I would say that in doing your thirty second "elevator pitch" to the Director of Floor Games, you should not even mention House Edge because it is so low on the list of the casino's concerns.

The one thing a casino does not want is for a player to leave the casino. So some bored, drunk wandering around needs to be catered to. House Edge just does not do it.

Yes, I understand the extreme importance of all the criteria listed, but it doesn't answer my question. While house edge is not the focus, I was still wondering what casinos find to be an optimal or acceptable range.

Quote: TexasJackPoker

Is there any standard house edge for a new game? What are casinos looking for as far as a house edge?

House edge is a physical number or a matrix that can be easily visualized or measured immediately, and should be considered the “first impression” factor in a for-profit environment. Others factors such as fun, simplicity, time, security & counting can be so abstract and usually can only be measured through field trials or years of actual playing times.

IMO, if the first/initial impression is the game is not profitable or not commercially viable, then your chance of getting a field trial would be close to zero.

Quote: TexasJackPoker

Y While house edge is not the focus, I was still wondering what casinos find to be an optimal or acceptable range.

I doubt the casinos really have any criteria regarding HE. They focus on the GAME and its supposed impact on crowd flow. The casino wants to make a profit... so it focuses not on HE, but instead focuses on Game Appeal to various market segments.

Quote: FleaStiff

I doubt the casinos really have any criteria regarding HE. They focus on the GAME and its supposed impact on crowd flow. The casino wants to make a profit... so it focuses not on HE, but instead focuses on Game Appeal to various market segments.

What you said is applied to a well established game.

But for a new or untested game, I think the casino must first decide what is an optimal or acceptable range or if the game is commercially viable (and it would take few seconds to evaluate???). How do you judge NEW or UNTESTED game without extensive field trials?

Quote: TexasJackPoker

Is there any standard house edge for a new game? What are casinos looking for as far as a house edge?

If your talking a carnival game, which I'm assuming you are...

Base game from low 2% to high 3% options for different size/demographic facilities.

Side wager from mid 4% to mid/high 7%, depending upon a number of factors like highest payout etc...

Without knowing anything more about the pay tables and the probabilities per each event, that's the best I have for you.

Edit: Also, if this is for a multi wager base game, then EOR may be the more important stat. Some multiwager games tend to hold closer to the EOR than the HA. In many cases that can be the death of the trial. For example, a game with a 2.5% edge with a 1.6% EOR only holds 16-18% (or less) when they expect to see a 25% hold etc...

Quote: 777

What you said is applied to a well established game.

But for a new or untested game, I think the casino must first decide what is an optimal or acceptable range or if the game is commercially viable (and it would take few seconds to evaluate???). How do you judge NEW or UNTESTED game without extensive field trials?

Yes. There are certain ballpark parameters:
* game has appeal
* game has a house edge appropriate for its speed (as well as player strategy potential losses to the house); fast game, or with strategy, closer to 1% (like Bacc or BJ), slower game closer to 3% (PGP).
* design game with multiple house edge options for every bet, so that it can be tailored in the field/post field trial.

TGD makes these calls.





*

I think an acceptable range, lies within the range they've already accepted, and have on the floor. That's what they're trying to tell you.

Go into a casino, look at each game, figure out the edge, and that's what they want. I'd guess between 3-6%, give or take.

Personally I'd have guessed between 1 and 3% for the base game and an interesting side bet. Other factors to consider are the largest payout on the base game - if it's 5/1 or less then that allows a bigger base bet (think 3CP), whereas some poker based games have tempters such as 200/1 for RF so have a lower maximum base bet. However some casinos like 5-card poker games as that interests their card room players during a break.

Quote: mrsuit31

If your talking a carnival game, which I'm assuming you are...

Base game from low 2% to high 3% options for different size/demographic facilities.

Side wager from mid 4% to mid/high 7%, depending upon a number of factors like highest payout etc...

Without knowing anything more about the pay tables and the probabilities per each event, that's the best I have for you.

Edit: Also, if this is for a multi wager base game, then EOR may be the more important stat. Some multiwager games tend to hold closer to the EOR than the HA. In many cases that can be the death of the trial. For example, a game with a 2.5% edge with a 1.6% EOR only holds 16-18% (or less) when they expect to see a 25% hold etc...

+1
For a new game: Hold around 20%-28%.