Yuchun Lee, professional blackjack player and former member of the MIT card counting team, answers the internet’s burning questions about casinos and odds. What are the odds of winning a slot machine? What’s the best blackjack strategy? How does card counting work? What’s the best poker strategy? What casino games make the house the most money? Yuchun answers all these questions and much more!
Director: Justin Wolfson
Director of Photography: Francis Bernal
Editor: Louville Moore
Expert: Yuchun Lee
Line Producer: Joseph Buscemi
Associate Producers: Paul Gulyas; Brandon White
Production Manager: Eric Martinez
Production Coordinator: Fernando Davila
Casting Producer: Nick Sawyer
Camera Operator: Eric Brouse
Audio: Sean Paulsen
Production Assistant: Ryan Coppola
Post Production Supervisor: Alexa Deutsch
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Doug Larsen
Additional Editor: Paul Tael
Assistant Editor: Andy Morell”
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42 comments
Which is why I only play against people and not the casino. Texas Hold Em.
Nice. Wired finally puts someone in one of these videos who actually knows what they're talking about. Love it. Well done.
The odds of 8 reds in a row is 1… if you get 8 reds in a row. All probabilities collapse to 1 once they occur.
I split everything in blackjack because I like to laugh at people at the table that think they are going to walk away a winner. It's hilarious when people start complaining that I took their ten and I just laugh saying I didn't come to win.
So slot machines are definitely rigged. 👌
This was a great video!
I worked at a casino in the 90s as a tech, it was interesting enough I just didn’t like seeing people put thousands into a machine that would pay max 250 on a royal flush. In the slot room we were told the machines were set to pay 97 percent (over a million coins).
Craps should change it's name.
The same Monte Carlo algorithm is used in VFx/Cgi graphics.. hahaha very very cool.
So theres actually one and only answer to the final question he was asked and it is be Donald Trump.
But… the Martingale algorithm still doesn't really make sense anyway. Let's say you start with a bet of $10. 5 losses in, you're betting $160 – if the 6th is a loss, overall you've lost $310; if the 6th is a win, overall you've won… $10.
10 losses in, you're betting $5,120. If the 10th is a loss, overall you've lost $10,230. If the 10th is a win, overall you've won… $10. And you'll get to 10 losses in a row in about 1 in 10,000 games, so it's really not that unlikely.
In games where the house has ANY edge, your expected value with a Martingale strategy is a loss.
I like how he talks about math and skill.
But, maybe there should be one question about addiction.
Seems he understands what other edges the casino has besides the math.
RFID hips have been going into casino chips also because of a major fraud that was perpetrated by doctoring the appearance of some chips. You cannot change the value the reader sees when cashing them in.
10:27 the odds of hitting red 8x in a row at roulette are longer than 1:256, as you must also factor in the green slots – typically 2 in the US, traditionally 1 in Europe.
the part at 8:30 about his friend that built a program to find and screw over less skilled, yet rich players, there's something morally wrong about this. this seems like stealing to me, am i wrong? either way i hope he sleeps well on his pile of ill-gotten money.
Why is it the gambler's fallacy but the law of large numbers is valid? Is it because gamblers dont have enough bankroll to play through droughts?
The trick to never losing at a casino is to only gamble with other people's money 😉
its not true, the best bet at the casino is on the craps table
The 8 reds in a row demonstrates why the Martingale strategy would fail for the player even at a "no limits" table. There is a small chance of a loss streak that will lead to a situation where either the player or the casino can not afford doubling of the bet – that is dort of the casino's edge against the strategy. As the player of that strategy you have a high chance of a small profit and a tiny chance of a catastrophically huge loss.
Only way to beat a casino is to never gamble
Wanna get in the money in tournament poker? Just fold hands until enough people have been eliminated. Chances are you won’t win the tournament but you’ll win some money.
You can never win in "Crap". LOL
i will never trust roulette as it was proven they can magnetically rig the ball
How can anyone be a pro card counter? Automatic shuffling shoes have practically ended counting. And if a casino was going to provide a game with a conventional shoe they would be more vigilant than ever regards counters. This is a bit like horse racing tipster; if they were that good at it they wouldn't have to restort to being a tipster. Same with this guy.
Ahh yes, the odds on a roulette table for it to land on red x amount of times, I witnessed when it landed on red 12 times in a row which made me lose my mind, the week after I witnessed a 1, 3 followed by a 2 which also is pretty insane.
By kicking a player who just won casino would lose a lot of money 😀 Leaving when you won is literally what you should do
Very informative . this guy knows what he is talking about.
I always win in the roulette, until I get kicked out.
NAHHH that dude with the poker algo is COLD for that lmao
Nk
The best odds to win big in casino is to own the casino
10:41
this expert gets the maths wrong, he forgot that the odds of getting a red on a roulette wheel is actually 18/38….he forgot the green 0 and 00 slots. derp.
The correct answer for "odds of 8 reds in a row" is ( 18 / 38 ) ^ 8
which is 0.00253%, or 1 in 394, not 1 in 256 as he states.
Some of these questions are so dumb. The simple answer to most cssino questions is MATHS
10:44 Blackjack player forgets the green slots
The martingale strategy has the same expected value, no matter how much money you have. Therefore millionaires have no edge over anyone else with it.
Could have used a mention of the gamblers fallacy in the roulette question. Cause yes, 8 reds is fairly improbable. But each time they made a bet on black the odds of winning were 50/50 (well, lower due to 0s), the fact that 7 rolls before were red did not improve their odds in that moment.
That was basically a good outline of how games should be played and what outcomes to expect. But you made a very important Comment about the The law of averages Based on hundreds of thousands of attempts. The average Gambler will not play Anywhere near those number of Hands to justify playing basic strategy. So for me a lot of that goes out the window because if I'm at a black Jack table and I'm hitting on 14 and 15 against a face card. and busting constantly I will go ahead and stand on those hands 3 or 4 times. I also would like to know your Thoughts on if basics strategy is played by the entire table then the cards will Have a strong tendency to be shuffled the same way. So if the dealer is Carpet Bombing the entire table that will continue if you continue to play basic strategy in my opinion.
Slot machines are bad bets because the pat as low as 80%. Lotteries usually pay up to 60%.
I see the hot hand fallacy as a cold hand fallacy.
The more I win, the more I think I will lose next bet.
the joy of winning vs the misery of losing. as he says, this is the fundamental balance that determined whether a person is a gambler or not.
because part of their edge is also accounting for the table limits
An important thing to keep in mind about the roulette question, is that yeah the odds are 1/256 that you get red 8 times in a row… but when it's just happened 7 times, the chance of it happening that eighth time is not 1/256, it's 1/2. Just because a PAST streak WAS unlikely, doesn't mean it's LESS likely to continue on the next play.
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