Understanding Online Casino Payouts, Payout Tables and Payout Percentages

2007 March 20, Erana Hansen

Understanding the various terms and conditions that are used at an online casino is very important to ensure that you get the most out of your casino playing experience. For a new player, this can be a little overwhelming so this article will try to help ease the confusion by explaining the differences between three common, similar sounding, but very different phrases – "payouts", "payout tables" and "payout percentages".

When you score a big win on the Blackjack or Baccarat table, and request a withdrawal of your winnings from your account, this is referred to as a "payout". For the player, a payout is a good thing, as it means that you've been successful and cashed out a nice profit.

A "payout table" is always displayed prominently on every casino game that you play and outlines the amounts paid out for the various winning situations in the game that you are playing. So for example there is always a payout table on the front of an Online Slot machine that describes the different symbol sequences required for a pay line win. In Video Poker a payout table at the top of the machine will show the player how much is paid out for each poker hand combination based on the number of coins played. Or if you are on the Roulette wheel, there will be a payout table displayed prominently that lists the odds and payouts for each bet combination. It is crucial that you always check the payout tables of the games before you commence your play. Even if it's a game or machine that you have played before, the payout table can vary from one casino to the next and if you are not familiar with the specific payout table for that game then you may not be playing the game in an optimal manner.

A payout table is very different to the phrase "payout percentage" which is the amount of money that an online casino collects in bets verses that which is given back as wins. So for example, if an online casino advertises a payout percentage of 98%, then that means that for every $100 taken in, they give $98 back to the players in the form of payouts.

To a novice, a payout percentage of 98% sounds extremely high, and indeed it is higher than what the traditional land based casinos can offer. This highlights one of the key advantages of playing at an online casino. Generally, land based casinos have more overheads (e.g. hiring staff, equipment, power, etc) than an online casino, and therefore the online casinos can offer the player excellent payout percentages. Now when you see the phrase "better than Vegas odds" being advertised you will know what it means!

This is also the reason why online casinos are able to offer players fantastic incentives such as welcome bonuses, player points and comps. How many casinos in Vegas will give you $500 FREE to play with as soon as you walk in their doors, just like is currently being offered at Casino Classic.

Hopefully this has eased the confusion with these commonly used phrases, and you will be able to understand their usage when you are next playing at an online casino.