Should you use the “gamble option” on a pokie?

While playing pokies, you may have noticed that you are occasionally offered a “gamble option.” This may seem an odd option as you are, obviously, already gambling. The “gamble” in the “gamble option” actually involves the money you just won from the pokie. If you select the “gamble option,” you’ll wager your most recent winnings for a simple bet—most commonly, the bet will be on what colour the next card in the deck will be or what suit the next card will be. If you guess correctly, you will double or quadruple your money depending on the type of bet chosen. If you lose, you lose the original winnings that you were gambling with. Some pokies will let you continue to try and double or quadruple your money if you are successful on your first bet. Thus, the winnings can be substantial.

Let’s look an example. Say that you just hit a winning combo on the pokie and the casino pays you $10. Suddenly, the pokie offers you two possibilities: you can turn your $10 into $20 by guessing the colour of the next card or you can try to turn your $10 into $40 by guessing the suit. Obviously, there’s a lot to consider here. That original $10 is, figuratively speaking, money in your pocket at this point and the only way you can lose it is by risking it on this secondary bet. However, the “gamble option” offers you some of the fairest odds you’ll find at a casino.

It’s these odds that are the true advantage of the “gamble option.” If you choose the double or nothing option (generally the colour of the card bet) and the pokie you are using is accurately simulating a true deck of cards, you have a true 50/50 bet. In short, this is one of the very rare cases in which you’ll place a bet where there’s no house edge. You’ll be getting paid at true odds. Thus, by using the gamble option, you’ll be reducing the overall house edge for the pokie you’re playing. Of course, the disadvantage of the “gamble option” is that you’ll be gambling with winnings that you could protect by choosing to avoid the option. If you hit a losing streak with the option, it can be a bit disheartening.

Many pokie players will choose to use the “gamble option” for smaller wins but will choose to stick with the guaranteed money they already have if they’ve just scored a big win. Ultimately, whether or not the “gamble option” is the right choice for you will largely depend on your own risk tolerance. Are you willing to face the possibility of losing that money that you just got your hands on? If you’re confident that you can bear the potential loss, then using the “gamble option” can be a great way to increase your winnings.