What is Advantage Play at Casinos and is it Legal?

Gambling games played in casinos have been a popular form of entertainment for centuries now. Since the 1600s and the primitive days of Italian private rooms and the now legendary first-ever casino known as II Ridotto, organized gambling has come a long way.

In today’s digital age, there are more ways to play than ever given the exponential rise in online casinos around the world. Between new-age benefits like being able to bet with cryptocurrency, generous bonuses, and quicker registration and withdrawal processes found at niche platforms like the fastest payout online casino, digital gambling has become a massive worldwide phenomenon.  

However, while the ways people can now access and play casino games have become more widespread than ever, one thing that’s never changed is the way players try to gain an edge and give themselves a better chance of winning. This is where the concept of advantage play comes from. Here, we look at this concept in more detail and discuss whether it’s legal at casinos.   

Defining Advantage Play

Advantage play refers to all the strategies and different methods players use to try and gain a statistical edge over the house when gambling. It can involve the use of information or capabilities that aren’t necessarily illegal but that could be banned by some casinos depending on their individual policies  

Even if not banned, depending on the type of advantage used or gained from a particular style of advantage play, it could be deemed against the spirit of a certain game or frowned upon by other players. This is because many casino games are meant to be based on luck so once anything that enters the fray which could be construed as a skill element, it can begin to defeat the entire purpose of the game and ruin it for other players who purely rely on luck,

In general, advantage play can refer to anything that gains the player an edge over the house by exploiting some lawful playing method. Occasionally, this can even result in the edge being turned in favor of the player but, in order to be considered advantage play and not cheating, must not require deceit or outright cheating.

For instance, poker’s darker side often results in players trying unlawful tactics. A prominent example is that if a player at a poker table uses some form of hidden camera to read other players’ cards, this would simply be cheating. On the other hand, if a player can calculate the odds of which hands are more likely to fall and bets accordingly each time, this may be considered a strategic way of playing.

The techniques associated with advantage play differ vastly in complexity and execution. These often range from primitive methods such as simply making use of loyalty programs to gain rewards to intricate and complex strategies born of years of study and practice. Here are some common ones.

Card Counting in Blackjack

Due to its popularization in famous Hollywood movies like Casino and 21, card counting is the most famous advantage play method. It’s usually used in blackjack and can be deployed by players who are mentally sharp enough to keep count of how many high and low-value cards fall.

This helps the player determine how many of each are left in the deck, allowing them to accurately calculate the odds of whether to hit or stand. Being able to quickly make this assessment in their mind helps them adjust their bets based on the likelihood of winning future hands.

Even though there’s a popular belief that utilizing this method against a casino is illegal, there are actually no state or federal laws that specifically prohibit it. However, as it gives players an obvious advantage that could mean they never lose, casinos themselves ban the practice.

This is possible because casinos are privately run businesses that have the freedom to implement their own rules and policies. As card counting is often portrayed negatively in the media and popular culture, this adds to the perception that it's illegal. In reality, casinos typically invest heavily in surveillance and countermeasures against the practice.

Wheel Clocking in Roulette

Wheel clocking is a practice that was made famous by a Croatian math and physics savant known as Niko Tosa. It works by a player watching and identifying patterns or imperfections whenever a particular roulette wheel is spun. It’s far from a guaranteed method and requires players to record thousands of spins and analyze the results in order to see if the wheel tends to favor any particular number or color.  

It requires noticing if any minor imperfections like the slightest of tilts can actually affect the outcome. If so, it can provide a player with a statistical advantage and point them toward which numbers or end of the wheel the ball will most likely land on.

Although harder to detect than card counting, players can still be ejected and banned if casinos catch on to the fact that they’re using this method. In any case, most modern casinos regularly calibrate their roulette wheels to ensure they have no kinks or imperfections that can make their result less random.  

Hole Carding and Edge Sorting

Other prominent advantage play methods are hole carding and edge sorting. These involve the practice of trying to view or figure out what the hole card is in blackjack or poker. With hole carding, this can be done either by the player’s clever observational skills or through a dealer error since dealers are trained to deal in a manner that doesn’t allow players to glimpse the hole card.

With edge sorting, the objective is the same but players try to figure out the hole card by paying attention to subtle kinks or imperfections on the back of certain cards. While knowledge of the hole card can provide a significant edge for the player, these methods amount to cheating.

Realistically, these days, high-end casinos use sophisticated dealer methods and multiple packs to ensure it never happens. However, in the past, techniques like these have led to high-profile lawsuits and court battles involving casinos and professional card players, with the Phil Ivey saga being a prominent example.  

The fact is, most advantage play tactics aren’t illegal though aren’t worth the trouble either. Given the amount of time and skill it would take to master the most effective advantage play techniques, players would be better off practicing the game they want to win at and learning effective strategies that can also gain them a slight edge and are perfectly acceptable to use.