Whether it’s buying a lotto ticket, placing a bet on the horses or playing the pokies, most people gamble at some stage. But even if you only have a flutter from time to time, it’s important to know how gambling works so you have realistic expectations about your chances of winning when you or someone you know gambles.

At the end of the day, gambling odds are designed to work against you. So if you gamble you should expect to lose. Knowing the odds is simply the best way to keep gambling in perspective. Gambling should be budgeted as an expense, just like going to a movie or out for dinner, and not considered a way to make money.

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What are the odds?

The odds vary depending on the game you choose to play and whether that game is chance or skill-based. What doesn’t vary however, is that the odds won’t work with you in the long run, no matter how much you wish they would. The table below shows some common forms of gambling for Victorians and the odds of winning when you sit down to bet: If you’re ready for the money you spend on gambling to not come back, then you’re ready for the odds.

Bet	Odds of Winning	Typical Prize
Poker Machines – Getting 5 Black Rhinos on Black Rhinos Machine (Top Prize) ($1 Bet per line)	1 in 9,765,625	$5000
Tattslotto – Winning First Division (Getting all 6 numbers correct)	1 in 8,145,060	$300,000 - $1m+
Powerball – Winning First Division (Getting all 5 numbers & the Powerball correct)	1 in 54,979,155	$3m - $15m
The Pools – Winning First Division (Getting all 6 numbers correct)	1 in 2,760,681	$500,000 - $700,000
Super 66 – Winning First Division (Getting all 6 numbers correct)	1 in 1,000,000	$60,000 - $90,000
Super 7’s Oz Lotto – Winning First Division (Getting all 7 numbers correct)	1 in 45,379,620	$1m – $5m
Trackside – Horse number 1 wins race ($1 Bet)	21 in 100	$4
Trackside – Horse number 12 wins race ($1 Bet)	2 in 100	$35
Casino – Roulette (Single Zero) – Winning Straight Up (Correct bet on a single number) ($5 Bet)	1 in 37	$180
Casino – Roulette (Single Zero) – Winning Black/Red, High/Low or Odd/Even ($5 Bet)	18 in 37	$10
Casino – Big Wheel – Getting the Joker (Pays 47-1) ($5 Bet)	1 in 52	$240

What about when the odds are even?

Take a closer look because it’s unlikely that they are.

In Roulette, what appears to be a straightforward fifty-fifty chance of betting on odd/even numbers is tipped in the house’s favour by the possibility of 0 and 00 being spun which are neither odd nor even.

No matter what game you play, when it comes to gambling, the odds of winning and losing are rarely as simple as they appear to be, which is why it’s always a good idea to know the odds and realise they are never in your favour.

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