Casinos have tons of bets you can make, and some of the bets offer better odds than others. But have you ever considered that the best bets might not even be found in a casino?
In this post, you’re going to learn about seven wagers that you won’t find in a casino that are actually better than the best found in casinos. Of course, you can still gamble in casinos sometimes, but most of the bets you make should be those included on the list below.
And once you read this list, you might never go back to a casino again.
1 – The Basic Sports Bet With Friends
The best bet you can make is a bet on a sporting event using a point spread published by a reputable online sportsbook with a friend or someone you know or work with.
I recommend this type of bet because it’s the best way someone who knows nothing about gambling can break even gambling. But, of course, you’re not going to break even on each bet because you either win or lose.
But you can break even on these bets in the long run because you’re not paying vig when you bet with people you know. And the point spread set by a major sportsbook keeps the bet fair for both people.
You don’t have to know anything about the sport you’re betting on or either team. You can let the other person pick the team they want, use the point spread, and you’re going to win half the time on average.
Even better, if you know how to handicap games well, you can make a small profit using this method. Then, all you have to do is find someone you know willing to bet on the other side of the game you want to place a wager on.
2 – A Private Blackjack Game
You can play a private blackjack game with friends and family for low stakes, and if you run it the way I recommend, everyone has the same odds of winning. Of course, some people will win a little bit of money, and some will lose a little bit of money, but no one has to risk more than they’re comfortable with.
The way to run the blackjack game, so everyone has the same chance of winning, is to take turns dealing. The dealer has a small advantage in blackjack, so everyone has the same odds of winning if everyone deals the same number of hands.
When you deal the game, you bank the game, and when the next person deals, they bank the game. The easiest way to run the game is that each player deals the game through a deck of cards, and then the next player deals.
3 – A Home Poker Tournament
My favorite way to gamble outside of a casino is in a private poker game. You can play poker with friends and family in two different ways. You can set up a home poker tournament or play a cash game. I cover home cash games in the next section.
To run a home poker tournament, all you need is a few people willing to play, some chips, and a deck of cards. Everyone pays an entry fee for the tournament that everyone is comfortable with, and then you play until only one player is left standing.
You can run winner takes all tournaments, but I prefer to spread the prizes out over the top two or three finishers.
For Example:
If you have eight players and the entry fee is $20, you have a prize pool of $160. So you could pay $80 for first place, $50 for second place, and $30 for third place.
4 – Playing Poker With Friends
The other way to play poker with friends is to run a low-cost cash game. You don’t have to play for big stakes to have fun, and players can buy more chips if they run low to keep playing. I’ve played in games like this for pennies, quarters, and all the way up to $100’s.
Take turns dealing, or if you have a friend who doesn’t want to play but doesn’t mind dealing, they can deal the game for you.
If you’re a good poker player, you can make a little money doing this, but if you’re playing for low stakes, you can have fun without risking much money, even if you aren’t a good poker player.
You can even make this a better evening if everyone brings something to eat to share, so everyone gets a meal and has fun playing poker.
5 – A $2 Lottery Ticket
Your odds of winning the lottery are worse than your odds of winning in a casino. But you’re still better off buying a $2 lottery ticket in most cases than gambling in a casino.
The first reason you’re better off buying a lottery ticket is you can win far more money than you can win in a casino. The top prizes in casinos are usually progressive jackpots on slot machines. And while you can find progressive jackpots that are worth $1,000,000 or more, they never approach the top prizes for lottery games.
The two big lottery games in the United States are often worth over $100,000,000. And you only need one ticket for each draw.
The fact that you only need one ticket leads to the second reason why you’re better off buying a lottery ticket than playing in a casino. If you try to win a progressive jackpot playing slots, you’re probably going to play a long time.
When you play slots for a long time, you can lose a lot of money. But you can buy a $2 ticket for every big lottery drawing for under $20 a week.
6 – Win, Place, Show $2 Ticket
I used to use this trick when I when to the dog track, and I’ve used it for horse racing bets too. If I don’t know much about the dogs or horses in a race, I try to identify a favorite and place a win, place, show bet for $2.
With a Win, Place, Show Wager, You Win if Your Pick Finishes in the Top Three Spots
If your pick wins, you win money for the win, place, and show. If your pick finishes second, you get paid for the place and the show. And if your pick finishes third, you get paid for the show.
You’re not going to make much money using this system, but you have a good chance to win as long as you can identify the best dogs or horses in the race.
The main problem with this type of bet is if the public pushes the odds too far on a heavy favorite, you might win the bet and end up winning less than you wagered.
The other way you can use this system is to try to find a long shot in each race that you think can finish in the money. Then, when you make a win, lace, show bet on a long shot, and it finishes in the money, you can win a nice amount.
7 – Cheap Charity Tickets and Raffles
If you care only about the odds and your chance to win, you probably want to skip this section. Most charity tickets and raffles have worse odds than you can find in a casino. But the big difference is that you’re giving money to something that you want to support instead of giving your money to a casino.
I sometimes support local businesses and sports teams when they run contests and raffles. I know that my chance of winning is lower than most other gambles I take, but I want to support them, and I win something every once in a while.
If I can get an entry for $1 or $5, it doesn’t cost me much money, I have a chance to win something, and I’m supporting something that I care about. So you might be interested in doing the same thing instead of gambling in a casino.
Conclusion
While you can’t find the seven wagers listed on this page in a casino, the fact is that these best are better than any bet you can find in a casino. Of course, casinos do have a few bets that offer decent odds, but the list in this post proves that you don’t have to go to the casino to place a decent wager.
Some of the best bet options are with friends or people you work with, so don’t put blinders on and think the only way to gamble is in a casino. You don’t have to give up gambling in a casino, but at least consider making some of the bets listed in this post.
Michael Stevens
Michael Stevens has been researching and writing topics involving the gambling industry for well over a decade now and is considered an expert on all things casino and sports betting. Michael has been writing for GamblingSites.org since early 2016. …
