How many casino bets before a 1% house edge becomes visible? About 40,000
A 1% house edge is too small to notice in short sessions because the random swings from individual bets are far larger than the expected loss per bet. The article divides a coin-flip-style dice bet's standard deviation by its edge, finding the swing is about 98 times the cost per bet. Using a two-standard-deviation threshold, the expected loss only stands out from noise after roughly 38,000 to 40,000 bets. A binomial calculation shows that after 100 bets about 46% of players are ahead, falling to about 2% after 40,000 bets. The author notes the threshold varies with payout multiplier, and that the house benefits in aggregate because it makes all the bets across many players.
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