There are lots of gaming elements and terms that you need to know in order to become a good player. If you are not aware of these terms, you may tend to get confused while playing. In simple terms, a hold percentage is referred to as the amount that a particular casino may gain from a game that is being played. The percentage is determined according to the game that is being played. While the hold percentage may include the average earnings over a significant period of time, it may as well include the money earned in a table over a single gaming session.
Hold Percentage is different from house edge
To explain in proper terms, if the average table earning is £500 from £5,000 played by players, the hold percentage will be 10%. All the related statistics will be kept in store to determine the average percentage over a longer period of time. This will help the casinos to calculate the profitability in the long run. However, it needs to be noted that hold percentage and house edge are two different aspects. House edge is from the players perspective that is used to determine the average returns that a player is expected to get from a game. Moreover, the calculation is made on each game and not for a period of time.
On the other hand, hold percentage is calculated over a period of time and not on each game. For example, if a player puts a stake of £100, the house is expected to gain £1 in return. However, in most cases, players will play over a longer period of time and that modifies the hold percentage. This is an effective way for casinos to understand the profitability of the tables and games. Accordingly, they can make changes in the game and modify the features in a longer period of time. Sometimes, the effectiveness of a particular game is also ascertained through the hold percentage.
Playability and game speed determines the hold percentage
Another factor that plays a major role to determine the hold percentage is the gaming speed. For example, roulette that has a house edge of around 5% is a much slower game than blackjack with a house edge of around 0.5%. As a result, the number of tables a player plays differs. Based on this number of times a player plays, the percentage is taken into account. This is applicable for other table games as well.
A significant factor that should be taken into account while calculating hold percentage is the playability factor. For example, in a game where players play for an extended period of time has better chances of hold percentage than the games where the playing time is smaller. Moreover, the rules of the game also determine the playability factor of the different games. Accordingly, the casino agencies calculate the hold percentage and look forward towards profits and revenue. The win rate is also another significant aspect that is used to calculate the percentage.
Taking an example, if some players are playing a table that is valued at $1,000 for a period of 24 hours, they would need to keep a hold of $250. The remaining will be $750. If you calculate the whole process, the hold percentage will come to around 25%. On the other hand, if the game consists of even money bet, the house edge will be around 1.5% and the average table hold will be around 15%. In the case of a carnival game, the table hold will be around 35% with a house edge of around 3.5%