Even though there is a 1% or less house edge, the casino hold in blackjack is much higher. If you are interested to know what it is, or you don’t know what a casino hold is then keep reading this article so you understand more from the minute you walk through the casino doors or load up the software from your favorite place to play online.
The average house edge for the game of blackjack is about half of 1%, yet the “hold” percentage is much higher at nearly 14.5%. Now you shouldn’t get these two numbers confused because the “house edge” is the predetermined percentage of each wager that the house is expecting to gain by letting you sit at the tables. The casino’s “hold” is the share of chips the player has bought that is won back by the casino. It’s not all that hard, and doesn’t take a significant amount of time for the casino’s house edge of 1% to turn into a 14% hold.
Contrary to popular belief, casinos are not in the gambling business. Casinos and sportsbooks that gamble often end up going bust just like so many of their customers. Good, reliable casinos are in the math and time business because the longer a player sits at the table, the higher the hold is going to be as the house edge racks up over the course of each hand.
Let’s take a look at how this works. First off, even though playing basic strategy the casino’s house edge is only less than a full percentage point, based on the bad play of the average blackjack player the number ends up being around 5%. Less than 1% of all players can be disciplined enough to follow the basic strategy. Over 20 hands of perpetual play, a player starting out with $100 should mathmatically have about $95 remaining, but since the player sticks to the stool with that remaining bankroll, the losses pile up and the house gets a higher hold than the casino edge in the game.
If you take that by the 24 hours a day, 7 days a week that the casino is open and the fact that there are hundreds of tables in some places, the 14.5% hold doesn’t seem like that big of a number. The only way to avoid getting caught up in the grind is to shorten the time you are willing to spend at the casino. Cautious behavior has a negative effect on a casino’s hold and a positive effect on your long term winnings.