Chicago Sun-Times: When Big Six gets deep-sixed, it's no loss to bettors

My friend Jim is always ready to talk a little gambling. Truth be told, he goes to the local casinos even more often than I do. I make it a point to head to a casino once a week, a different one each time so that I see all within a couple of months. Jim goes two or three times a week, but nearly always to the same place.

Our paths crossed last month, and over lunch, we reminisced about the early days of gambling in Illinois.

"Remember those boarding fees? Outrageous," Jim recalled.

How could I forget. As if it wasn't bad enough fighting weekend crowds, you had to pay an $18 fee in prime hours.

"It never felt quite right to be paying $18, or any charge at all, for the right to lose your money. And you know what else I don't miss?"

Tell me.

"Slot clubs with no cash back."

Do you know what was the most popular slot club comp?

"Buffets, I suppose."

Nope. Complimentary boarding.

"It figures. Is there something you really are glad is gone? Maybe a game that you really don't miss?"

Now that you mention it, I was just checking the Illinois Gaming Board monthly report. Did you realize there isn't a single Big Six wheel among the state's nine casinos?

"Not one?"

Not a single one. I don't know how long it's been since there was one in operation. As bad a game as Big Six is, it's slow-moving and not a big draw. With Illinois' limit of 1,200 gaming positions, there certainly are more profitable uses of space than Big Six.

"You're not glad it's gone because you're concerned about casino profits, are you?"

Not at all. I'm glad it's gone because it's a terrible game for players. It looks like harmless fun, just like an old carnival game, and it draws in the unwary who don't realize that it's one of the worst games around.

"When the boats around here had it, I used to just pass it by. Is anyone still playing it?"

Sure. Big Six lives in Las Vegas and other gaming jurisdictions. It still has a foothold in Indiana, too. There is no regulatory limit on the number of gaming positions in Indiana, so those boats tend to have close to twice as many games as Illinois casinos. In that environment, Big Six can hang on.

"I know it's a bad game, but just how bad is it?"

Really, really bad. The house edge ranges from 11 to 24 percent. There's some variation, but typically the 54 spaces on the wheel include 24 with $1 bills, 15 with $2 bills, seven with $5 bills, four with $10 bills, two with $20 bills and two with different special symbols, such as a casino logo or an eagle. Winning spins are paid at odds that correspond to the bill or symbol. If you bet on the $1 bill and win, you're paid even money; winning bets on the $2 bill are paid 2-1; the $5 bill pays 5-1, $10 bill pays 10-1, $20 bill pays 20-1 and either special symbol pays 40-1.

The best bet of the bunch is the bet on the dollar bill. Let's say you bet $1 on each of 54 spins, with the wheel landing on each space once. A bet on $1 would win 24 times, and each time you'd keep your $1 bet and get $1 in winnings, meaning that at the end of the trial you'd have $48. Subtract that from the $54 in wagers, and you see that you've lost $6 in the trial. Divide the $6 in losses by the $54 in wagers, and multiply by 100 to convert to percent, and that's an 11.1 percent house edge.

That's far worse than the house edges of 5.26 percent at roulette, 5.22 percent of the ante in Caribbean Stud, 3.5 percent of one bet in Let It Ride, 1.41 percent on the pass line in craps or the 2.5 percent against an average player or 0.5 percent against a basic strategy player in blackjack. The Big Six bet on $1 is a terrible bet- and it's the best of the bunch.

House edges on other Big Six bets are 16.6 percent on $2, 22.2 percent on $5 or $20, 18.5 percent on $10 and 24 percent on either special symbol.

"And there's no skill involved, no way to cut into those edges."

You can nickel-and-dime it a little with coupons. I used to take my shot at Big Six in Las Vegas when I'd run across a coupon that paid $2 for a winning $1 bet. That converts the 11.1 percent house edge on the bet on $1 to a 33.3 percent player edge. If you play only when you have such a coupon, you have an edge on the game.

"Otherwise, don't play."

That's the ticket. Play your coupon, bet your buck and move on to a better game.