[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-article-mines-game-odds-cashout-en":3,"mdc-g7qnza-key":68},{"id":4,"slug":5,"status":6,"section":7,"category":8,"author":9,"publish_date":10,"date_updated":11,"read_time":12,"image":13,"embedded_components":14,"related_calculators":14,"related_articles":15,"title":16,"description":17,"keywords":18,"content":27,"faq":28,"availableLocales":65},"cd5664fa-b090-492d-86d4-ef0e6c92a320","mines-game-odds-cashout","published","casino","analysis","Evgeniy Volkov","2026-08-03","2026-08-03T04:58:38.792251+00:00",13,"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fmines-game-odds-cashout.webp","[]",[],"Mines Game Odds and When to Cash Out (2026)","Mines game odds computed exactly: survival chance for every pick, why cash-out timing changes nothing, and how to check your paytable.",[19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26],"mines game odds","mines casino game","mines gambling game","mines cash out","mines game strategy","mines game probability","mines game rtp","mines odds calculator","# Mines Game Odds and When to Cash Out (2026)\n\nEvery Mines guide I have read answers the wrong question. They all argue about when to cash out, as though there were a right moment hiding in there somewhere, and none of them ever computes what stopping at each point is worth.\n\nSo I computed it. Three mines, a 99% paytable, stopping after one pick through eight picks, and the expected return came out the same to four decimal places every single time: 0.9900.\n\nThat result kills an entire genre of advice, and it points at the thing that actually costs you money in this game. Here is the full maths.\n\n## Quick answer: Mines odds and the cash-out rule\n\n### The numbers\n\n| Question | Answer (5x5 grid) |\n| --- | --- |\n| Survive one pick, 3 mines | 88.00% |\n| Survive five picks, 3 mines | 49.57% |\n| Survive one pick, 10 mines | 60.00% |\n| Expected return, stopping after 1 pick | 0.9900 of stake |\n| Expected return, stopping after 8 picks | 0.9900 of stake |\n| What cashing out later actually changes | Variance, not value |\n\n### What this does not mean\n\nIt does not mean cash-out timing is irrelevant to your experience. Stopping early wins often and small, holding on wins rarely and big, and the difference in how a session feels is enormous.\n\nIt also assumes the operator prices the paytable cleanly. Not all of them do, and where they do not, some stopping points genuinely are worse than others. Checking that is the one piece of real analysis available to a Mines player, and it is covered below.\n\n## Disclosure\n\nWe earn a commission when a reader opens an account through some of the links on this site. Nothing below was supplied or reviewed by an operator. Every probability is computed from the hypergeometric formula for drawing safe tiles without replacement, and the figures reproduce the published values on [Wizard of Odds](https:\u002F\u002Fwizardofodds.com\u002Fgames\u002Fmines\u002F) exactly where they overlap, which is the check that the method is right.\n\n## How Mines actually works\n\n### The grid and the seed\n\nA 5x5 grid holds 25 tiles. You choose how many mines to bury, anywhere from 1 to 24, and the game hides them. You then click tiles one at a time. Each safe tile raises your multiplier. Hitting a mine ends the round and takes the stake.\n\nThe layout is decided before your first click. A server seed is generated, hashed, and the hash is shown to you in advance, which is what stops the game from moving a mine under your cursor. After the round the seed is revealed and you can confirm it matches.\n\n### The formula\n\nThe chance of surviving P picks with M mines on the grid is:\n\n::math-block\n---\nformula: P(\\text{survive}) = \\frac{\\binom{25-M}{P}}{\\binom{25}{P}}\ndisplay: true\n---\n::\n\nIn plain terms: count how many ways to choose P tiles from the safe ones, divide by the ways to choose P tiles from all of them. The fair multiplier is 1 divided by that number, and whatever the game pays you below the fair multiplier is the operator's margin.\n\n## Survival odds for every pick\n\n### Three mines, the common default\n\n| Picks cleared | Chance of surviving | Fair multiplier | Pays on a 99% table |\n| ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |\n| 1 | 88.00% | 1.136 | 1.125 |\n| 2 | 77.00% | 1.299 | 1.286 |\n| 3 | 66.96% | 1.494 | 1.479 |\n| 4 | 57.83% | 1.729 | 1.712 |\n| 5 | 49.57% | 2.018 | 1.997 |\n| 6 | 42.13% | 2.374 | 2.350 |\n| 7 | 35.48% | 2.819 | 2.790 |\n| 8 | 29.57% | 3.382 | 3.349 |\n| 9 | 24.35% | 4.107 | 4.066 |\n| 10 | 19.78% | 5.055 | 5.004 |\n\nHalf of all rounds are over by the fifth pick. A ten pick clear, which feels like a good but ordinary round, happens once in five.\n\n### Five and ten mines\n\n| Picks cleared | 5 mines | 10 mines |\n| ---: | ---: | ---: |\n| 1 | 80.00% | 60.00% |\n| 2 | 63.33% | 35.00% |\n| 3 | 49.57% | 19.78% |\n| 4 | 38.30% | 10.79% |\n| 5 | 29.18% | 5.65% |\n| 6 | 21.89% | 2.83% |\n| 7 | 16.13% | 1.34% |\n| 8 | 11.65% | 0.59% |\n\nAt ten mines, surviving eight picks happens roughly once in 168 rounds and pays about 166x on a 99% table. That is a lottery ticket dressed as a skill game.\n\n#### Why more mines is not \"riskier\" in the way people mean\n\nRaising the mine count lowers your survival chance and raises the payout by exactly the offsetting amount. The house edge does not move. What moves is the shape of your results, from frequent small wins toward rare large ones.\n\nChoosing 10 mines over 3 is the same decision as choosing a high volatility slot over a low volatility one. Our [volatility calculator](\u002Fcasino\u002Fvolatility-calculator) sizes the bankroll each shape needs, and the same logic is laid out in [slot volatility explained](\u002Fblog\u002Fslot-volatility-explained).\n\n## When to cash out: the answer nobody gives\n\n### Expected value at every stopping point\n\nHere is the table the strategy guides never print. Three mines, 99% paytable, every stopping point from one pick to eight.\n\n| Stop after | Pays | Chance of getting there | Expected return | Standard deviation |\n| ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |\n| 1 pick | 1.13x | 88.00% | 0.9900 | 0.366 |\n| 2 picks | 1.29x | 77.00% | 0.9900 | 0.541 |\n| 3 picks | 1.48x | 66.96% | 0.9900 | 0.695 |\n| 4 picks | 1.71x | 57.83% | 0.9900 | 0.845 |\n| 5 picks | 2.00x | 49.57% | 0.9900 | 0.999 |\n| 6 picks | 2.35x | 42.13% | 0.9900 | 1.160 |\n| 7 picks | 2.79x | 35.48% | 0.9900 | 1.335 |\n| 8 picks | 3.35x | 29.57% | 0.9900 | 1.528 |\n\nThe expected return column is flat. The standard deviation column quadruples.\n\n### So what are you actually choosing\n\nYou are choosing how much your balance jumps around, and nothing else. The chance of getting there falls at precisely the rate the payout rises, which is what \"cleanly priced\" means and what makes the product constant.\n\n#### The practical read\n\nStopping early is the right choice if your bankroll is small relative to your stake, because you need to survive long enough for a 1% edge to be the only thing working against you. Holding longer is the right choice if you are buying a shot at a big number and have accepted the cost.\n\nNeither is more profitable. Anyone selling a specific pick count as optimal is selling a preference as a discovery. Our [session simulator](\u002Fcasino\u002Fsession-simulator) shows what each preference does to a real bankroll over a few hundred rounds, which is a more useful question than the one the guides argue about.\n\n#### Picking a stopping rule you can actually hold\n\nThe rule matters less than sticking to it. A player who intends to stop at three picks and pushes to six after a good run has not chosen a strategy, they have chosen whichever variance the last round put them in the mood for.\n\nTwo rules survive contact with a real session. Fix the pick count before the round starts and let auto-cashout enforce it, or fix a session loss limit and let the pick count vary. Mixing both, deciding fresh each round, is what turns a flat expected value into a bankroll that empties faster than the maths predicts, because the rounds where you push are also the rounds where the stake has crept up.\n\n## Where to play Mines\n\nEverything that moves money in Mines is set before the first click: how many mines sit on the grid, and what multipliers that particular table pays. Picking the table is the strategy people keep hunting for in click patterns.\n\nOutside the US, [Mines at 1win](\u002Fgo\u002F1win?game=mines) is the table we point readers to. The site takes players from India, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Kenya and dozens of other markets. From the same instant-game shelf it runs [Plinko](\u002Fgo\u002F1win?game=plinko) and the crash titles [JetX](\u002Fgo\u002F1win?game=jetx) and [Lucky Jet](\u002Fgo\u002F1win?game=lucky-jet); the full catalogue with mechanics sits in [our 1win games overview](\u002Fblog\u002F1win-games). US players are not accepted there, so the licensed option named earlier applies instead.\n\nWhat to check on any specific Mines table before your first bet:\n\n- Whether the multiplier table is published for every mine count, not just one configuration\n- How far the offered multiplier sits below the fair one you can compute with the formula above\n- Whether the round hash is issued before the first click\n\nThe fair multiplier takes seconds to work out, and it is the only check that reliably saves money over time.\n\n## Each click is slightly worse than the one before\n\n### The marginal odds\n\nPlayers tend to feel safer as a round goes on, having \"got past\" the dangerous part. The arithmetic runs the other way.\n\n| Click number | Tiles remaining | Mines remaining | Chance this click is safe |\n| ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |\n| 1 | 25 | 3 | 88.00% |\n| 2 | 24 | 3 | 87.50% |\n| 3 | 23 | 3 | 86.96% |\n| 4 | 22 | 3 | 86.36% |\n| 5 | 21 | 3 | 85.71% |\n| 6 | 20 | 3 | 85.00% |\n| 7 | 19 | 3 | 84.21% |\n| 8 | 18 | 3 | 83.33% |\n\nEach safe click removes a safe tile while leaving all three mines on the board, so the proportion of danger rises every time. The eighth click is meaningfully more dangerous than the first.\n\nThis is the opposite of the instinct that the round is \"warming up\", and it is the same family of error as thinking a cold streak is due to end. Our page on the [gambler's fallacy](\u002Fcasino\u002Fgamblers-fallacy) covers why that feeling is so persistent.\n\n## Check what your casino actually pays\n\n### Fair multiplier against what is on screen\n\nThe single piece of genuine analysis available here takes about a minute. Work out the fair multiplier for a configuration, then read what the game offers for it.\n\n| Mines | Picks | Fair multiplier | If the game pays | Operator keeps |\n| ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |\n| 3 | 5 | 2.018 | 1.997 | 1.0% |\n| 3 | 5 | 2.018 | 1.917 | 5.0% |\n| 5 | 3 | 2.018 | 1.876 | 7.0% |\n| 24 | 1 | 25.000 | 24.750 | 1.0% |\n| 24 | 1 | 25.000 | 23.750 | 5.0% |\n\nThat last pair is worth dwelling on. A single pick with 24 mines has a 1 in 25 chance, so the fair payout is exactly 25x. The tables published by Wizard of Odds show 23.75x for that bet, which works out at a 5% margin, and my own calculation reproduces their figure exactly. A game paying 24.75x for the same bet is charging 1%.\n\n### The uncomfortable part\n\nSame game, same grid, same 1 in 25 chance, and one version takes five times as much of your money as the other. Nothing on screen announces which one you are looking at.\n\nRun the numbers with our [house edge calculator](\u002Fcasino\u002Fhouse-edge-calculator) or check the survival chance directly in the [win probability calculator](\u002Fcasino\u002Fwin-probability) if you would rather not compute binomial coefficients by hand.\n\n## Mines RTP is not one number\n\n### What we can verify\n\n| Title | Provider | RTP | Note |\n| --- | --- | ---: | --- |\n| [Minesweeper](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.bgaming.com\u002Fgames\u002Fminesweeper) | BGaming | 98.4% | Published by the provider |\n| [Minesweeper XY](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.bgaming.com\u002Fgames\u002Fminesweeper-xy) | BGaming | 98.4% | Adjustable field size |\n| Configurations analysed by Wizard of Odds | various | 94% to 95% | Most mine and pick combinations |\n| One mine, certain pick counts | various | as low as 41% | Badly priced edge case |\n\nThe BGaming figures come from our database of 3,764 tracked game entries with a provider source and verification date on each record. The spread across the category is enormous, and the one-mine case is a genuine trap: at some pick counts that setting returns less than half your stake in expectation.\n\nThat is the practical warning. One mine feels like the safe option, and on some paytables it is the worst bet on the board. Our [RTP database](\u002Frtp) and [highest RTP games](\u002Frtp\u002Fbest-rtp-slots) list track published figures where operators disclose them.\n\n### The one-mine trap in detail\n\nOne mine looks like the conservative setting. Twenty-four safe tiles, one bomb, and a 96% chance that any given click is fine. Players who want a low-risk grind pick it for exactly that reason.\n\nThe problem is that the payouts at one mine are tiny, and tiny payouts are where rounding and lazy paytable design do the most damage. A fair one-pick payout at one mine is 1.0417x. If the operator rounds that down to 1.03x, it has taken 1.1%. If it publishes 1.02x, it has taken 2.1%. The player cannot feel the difference between those numbers, and at 400 rounds an hour the difference is the whole session.\n\nAt the far end of that setting the pricing breaks down completely. The Wizard of Odds analysis finds one-mine returns ranging from 41% to 96% depending on how many picks you take, which means some stopping points on that setting are worse than a slot machine.\n\nThe general rule is that low-payout configurations hide margin more effectively than high-payout ones, because a few hundredths off a 1.04x multiplier is invisible while a few hundredths off a 25x multiplier is not.\n\n## Patterns, tricks and \"safe tiles\"\n\n### Why no pattern can exist\n\nThe search results for this game are full of tile patterns, corner strategies and \"secret pro tips\". They share one flaw: there is no information in the game for a pattern to be built on.\n\nIn Minesweeper, the classic desktop game, revealed squares show numbers telling you how many mines touch them. That is a genuine logic puzzle. Casino Mines shows you nothing except safe or dead, so the state of the board after four safe clicks tells you only that four safe tiles are gone.\n\nEvery unrevealed tile is equally likely to be a mine. Corners, edges, diagonals and the \"cross pattern\" are all the same bet.\n\n### What to verify instead\n\nVerification is the thing that is worth your attention. Take the pre-round hash, take the revealed seed, hash it and compare. Our [provably fair checker](\u002Fcasino\u002Fprovably-fair) handles the hashing, and if the values match, the layout was fixed before your first click.\n\nAn operator that cannot show a pre-round hash has no answer to the \"are the mines moving\" question, and that question is the only rigging concern in this game that would actually matter.\n\n## What Mines costs per hour\n\n### Auto-pick makes the edge compound faster\n\nMost Mines implementations offer an auto mode: pick a tile count, pick a stopping rule, and let it run. The expected value per round does not change, and the rounds per hour roughly triple.\n\nA player clicking manually at three picks per round might complete 200 rounds an hour. The same rule on auto clears 600 without any sense of having bet more, because the decision was made once rather than six hundred times. Expected loss triples along with it.\n\nIf you use auto mode, set a round limit rather than a time limit. Time is the variable that auto mode quietly detaches from cost.\n\n### The hourly figures\n\n| Rounds per hour | Stake | Turnover | Cost at 99% | Cost at 95% |\n| ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |\n| 200 | $1 | $200 | $2.00 | $10.00 |\n| 400 | $1 | $400 | $4.00 | $20.00 |\n| 400 | $5 | $2,000 | $20.00 | $100.00 |\n| 800 | $1 | $800 | $8.00 | $40.00 |\n\nA cautious one-pick-and-cash-out style produces very fast rounds, which means high turnover, which means the edge gets applied more times per hour. The safest looking way to play is also the way that pushes the most money through the game.\n\nThat is the real cost structure, and it applies the same way to [crash games](\u002Fblog\u002Fcrash-gambling-explained) and to [Plinko](\u002Fblog\u002Fplinko-gambling-math), both of which resolve in seconds. Size the session with our [bankroll calculator](\u002Fcasino\u002Fbankroll-calculator) before the speed decides it for you.\n\n### How Mines sits against the rest of the instant category\n\n| Game | Decisions after betting | What the player controls | Where the edge is charged |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Mines | Cash out timing | Mine count, stopping point | Once, on entry |\n| Crash | Cash out timing | Target multiplier | Once, on entry |\n| Plinko | None | Rows, risk level | Every drop, via the paytable |\n| Slots | None | Stake, game choice | Every spin |\n\nMines and crash share a structure: an entry price, then a sequence of decisions that redistribute variance without touching value. Plinko and slots do not even offer that, because there is nothing to decide once the ball or the reel is released.\n\nThe practical consequence is the same in all four. The choice that moves money is which game and which paytable, made before you start, and not any decision available to you afterwards.\n\n## The verdict\n\nMines is a clean game with one honest decision in it, and it is not the decision everyone argues about. Cash-out timing sets your variance, not your return, and on a properly priced table every stopping point is worth the same.\n\nThe decision that does matter is which table you are playing on. Fair multipliers are computable in seconds, published paytables range from 1% to 5% margin on identical bets, and one popular setting can return as little as 41%. That gap dwarfs anything a stopping rule could recover.\n\nCompute the fair multiplier for the configuration you like, compare it to what your game offers, and play the one that pays closest to fair. Readers in the US looking for a licensed operator can start with [Bovada](\u002Fgo\u002Fbovada), and the paytable question is worth asking wherever you land.",[29,32,35,38,41,44,47,50,53,56,59,62],{"answer":30,"question":31},"There is no trick, and the maths says there cannot be one. Mine positions are fixed by a seed before your first click, every safe tile is equally likely, and no sequence of clicks is better than any other.","What is the trick of the Mines game?",{"answer":33,"question":34},"On a cleanly priced paytable it makes no difference to your expected return. Stopping after one pick and stopping after eight both return the same fraction of your stake. What changes is how wildly your balance swings.","When should I cash out in Mines?",{"answer":36,"question":37},"With 3 mines on a 5x5 grid you survive one pick 88% of the time, three picks 66.96% and five picks 49.57%. With 5 mines the same three figures are 80%, 49.57% and 29.18%.","What are the odds of surviving in Mines?",{"answer":39,"question":40},"Not over time. Every configuration carries a house edge, and because that edge is charged on entry rather than per click, no stopping rule escapes it. Individual sessions win, the long run does not.","Can you make money playing Mines?",{"answer":42,"question":43},"No. There are no decisions in the game that carry information. You cannot see the board, previous rounds tell you nothing, and the only variables you control are how many mines to set and when to stop.","Is there a way to beat Mines?",{"answer":45,"question":46},"No. Every unrevealed tile has the same probability of hiding a mine. Corner and edge theories come from Minesweeper, where the board gives you numeric clues. Casino Mines gives you no clues at all.","Does picking corners or edges improve my chances?",{"answer":48,"question":49},"It is not a single figure. It depends on the paytable the operator uses and sometimes on the mine count. BGaming Minesweeper is 98.4%, while the configurations analysed by Wizard of Odds return 94% to 95%, and one mine drops as low as 41% at some pick counts.","What is the RTP of the Mines game?",{"answer":51,"question":52},"Per click yes, per session not necessarily. Ten mines gives you a 60% chance of surviving one click against 88% with three, but the payout scales to match. The house edge is the same either way.","Is more mines riskier than fewer mines?",{"answer":54,"question":55},"Work out the fair multiplier, which is 1 divided by your chance of surviving that many picks, then compare it to what the game offers. The gap between the two is the operator margin, and anything beyond a few percent is a bad table.","How do I know if my casino underpays on Mines?",{"answer":57,"question":58},"You clear ten picks about one round in five. Half of all rounds end by the fifth pick, since survival through five picks sits just under 50%.","How many picks can I usually get with 3 mines?",{"answer":60,"question":61},"On a provably fair implementation, no. The layout is derived from a server seed that is hashed and shown to you before the round, so it cannot be changed in response to where you click. You can verify this after the round ends.","Are the mines placed after I click?",{"answer":63,"question":64},"At 400 rounds an hour on $1 stakes you turn over $400. On a 99% table that is about $4 an hour, and on a 95% table the same play costs $20 an hour.","How much does Mines cost per hour?",[66,67],"en","ru",{"data":69,"body":70},{},{"type":71,"children":72},"root",[73,81,87,92,97,103,110,215,221,226,231,237,253,259,265,270,275,281,286,292,297,303,309,570,575,581,740,745,752,757,778,784,790,795,1041,1046,1052,1057,1063,1068,1081,1087,1092,1097,1103,1108,1153,1158,1178,1183,1189,1195,1200,1399,1404,1417,1423,1429,1434,1593,1598,1604,1609,1630,1636,1642,1773,1778,1798,1804,1809,1814,1819,1824,1830,1836,1841,1846,1851,1857,1870,1875,1881,1887,1892,1897,1902,1908,2053,2058,2086,2092,2211,2216,2221,2227,2232,2237],{"type":74,"tag":75,"props":76,"children":78},"element","h2",{"id":77},"mines-game-odds-and-when-to-cash-out-2026",[79],{"type":80,"value":16},"text",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":83,"children":84},"p",{},[85],{"type":80,"value":86},"Every Mines guide I have read answers the wrong question. They all argue about when to cash out, as though there were a right moment hiding in there somewhere, and none of them ever computes what stopping at each point is worth.",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":88,"children":89},{},[90],{"type":80,"value":91},"So I computed it. Three mines, a 99% paytable, stopping after one pick through eight picks, and the expected return came out the same to four decimal places every single time: 0.9900.",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":93,"children":94},{},[95],{"type":80,"value":96},"That result kills an entire genre of advice, and it points at the thing that actually costs you money in this game. Here is the full maths.",{"type":74,"tag":75,"props":98,"children":100},{"id":99},"quick-answer-mines-odds-and-the-cash-out-rule",[101],{"type":80,"value":102},"Quick answer: Mines odds and the cash-out rule",{"type":74,"tag":104,"props":105,"children":107},"h3",{"id":106},"the-numbers",[108],{"type":80,"value":109},"The numbers",{"type":74,"tag":111,"props":112,"children":113},"table",{},[114,133],{"type":74,"tag":115,"props":116,"children":117},"thead",{},[118],{"type":74,"tag":119,"props":120,"children":121},"tr",{},[122,128],{"type":74,"tag":123,"props":124,"children":125},"th",{},[126],{"type":80,"value":127},"Question",{"type":74,"tag":123,"props":129,"children":130},{},[131],{"type":80,"value":132},"Answer (5x5 grid)",{"type":74,"tag":134,"props":135,"children":136},"tbody",{},[137,151,164,177,190,202],{"type":74,"tag":119,"props":138,"children":139},{},[140,146],{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":142,"children":143},"td",{},[144],{"type":80,"value":145},"Survive one pick, 3 mines",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":147,"children":148},{},[149],{"type":80,"value":150},"88.00%",{"type":74,"tag":119,"props":152,"children":153},{},[154,159],{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":155,"children":156},{},[157],{"type":80,"value":158},"Survive five picks, 3 mines",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":160,"children":161},{},[162],{"type":80,"value":163},"49.57%",{"type":74,"tag":119,"props":165,"children":166},{},[167,172],{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":168,"children":169},{},[170],{"type":80,"value":171},"Survive one pick, 10 mines",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":173,"children":174},{},[175],{"type":80,"value":176},"60.00%",{"type":74,"tag":119,"props":178,"children":179},{},[180,185],{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":181,"children":182},{},[183],{"type":80,"value":184},"Expected return, stopping after 1 pick",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":186,"children":187},{},[188],{"type":80,"value":189},"0.9900 of stake",{"type":74,"tag":119,"props":191,"children":192},{},[193,198],{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":194,"children":195},{},[196],{"type":80,"value":197},"Expected return, stopping after 8 picks",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":199,"children":200},{},[201],{"type":80,"value":189},{"type":74,"tag":119,"props":203,"children":204},{},[205,210],{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":206,"children":207},{},[208],{"type":80,"value":209},"What cashing out later actually changes",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":211,"children":212},{},[213],{"type":80,"value":214},"Variance, not value",{"type":74,"tag":104,"props":216,"children":218},{"id":217},"what-this-does-not-mean",[219],{"type":80,"value":220},"What this does not mean",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":222,"children":223},{},[224],{"type":80,"value":225},"It does not mean cash-out timing is irrelevant to your experience. Stopping early wins often and small, holding on wins rarely and big, and the difference in how a session feels is enormous.",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":227,"children":228},{},[229],{"type":80,"value":230},"It also assumes the operator prices the paytable cleanly. Not all of them do, and where they do not, some stopping points genuinely are worse than others. Checking that is the one piece of real analysis available to a Mines player, and it is covered below.",{"type":74,"tag":75,"props":232,"children":234},{"id":233},"disclosure",[235],{"type":80,"value":236},"Disclosure",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":238,"children":239},{},[240,242,251],{"type":80,"value":241},"We earn a commission when a reader opens an account through some of the links on this site. Nothing below was supplied or reviewed by an operator. Every probability is computed from the hypergeometric formula for drawing safe tiles without replacement, and the figures reproduce the published values on ",{"type":74,"tag":243,"props":244,"children":248},"a",{"href":245,"rel":246},"https:\u002F\u002Fwizardofodds.com\u002Fgames\u002Fmines\u002F",[247],"nofollow",[249],{"type":80,"value":250},"Wizard of Odds",{"type":80,"value":252}," exactly where they overlap, which is the check that the method is right.",{"type":74,"tag":75,"props":254,"children":256},{"id":255},"how-mines-actually-works",[257],{"type":80,"value":258},"How Mines actually works",{"type":74,"tag":104,"props":260,"children":262},{"id":261},"the-grid-and-the-seed",[263],{"type":80,"value":264},"The grid and the seed",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":266,"children":267},{},[268],{"type":80,"value":269},"A 5x5 grid holds 25 tiles. You choose how many mines to bury, anywhere from 1 to 24, and the game hides them. You then click tiles one at a time. 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The eighth click is meaningfully more dangerous than the first.",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":1405,"children":1406},{},[1407,1409,1415],{"type":80,"value":1408},"This is the opposite of the instinct that the round is \"warming up\", and it is the same family of error as thinking a cold streak is due to end. 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Players who want a low-risk grind pick it for exactly that reason.",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":1810,"children":1811},{},[1812],{"type":80,"value":1813},"The problem is that the payouts at one mine are tiny, and tiny payouts are where rounding and lazy paytable design do the most damage. A fair one-pick payout at one mine is 1.0417x. If the operator rounds that down to 1.03x, it has taken 1.1%. If it publishes 1.02x, it has taken 2.1%. The player cannot feel the difference between those numbers, and at 400 rounds an hour the difference is the whole session.",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":1815,"children":1816},{},[1817],{"type":80,"value":1818},"At the far end of that setting the pricing breaks down completely. The Wizard of Odds analysis finds one-mine returns ranging from 41% to 96% depending on how many picks you take, which means some stopping points on that setting are worse than a slot machine.",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":1820,"children":1821},{},[1822],{"type":80,"value":1823},"The general rule is that low-payout configurations hide margin more effectively than high-payout ones, because a few hundredths off a 1.04x multiplier is invisible while a few hundredths off a 25x multiplier is not.",{"type":74,"tag":75,"props":1825,"children":1827},{"id":1826},"patterns-tricks-and-safe-tiles",[1828],{"type":80,"value":1829},"Patterns, tricks and \"safe tiles\"",{"type":74,"tag":104,"props":1831,"children":1833},{"id":1832},"why-no-pattern-can-exist",[1834],{"type":80,"value":1835},"Why no pattern can exist",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":1837,"children":1838},{},[1839],{"type":80,"value":1840},"The search results for this game are full of tile patterns, corner strategies and \"secret pro tips\". They share one flaw: there is no information in the game for a pattern to be built on.",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":1842,"children":1843},{},[1844],{"type":80,"value":1845},"In Minesweeper, the classic desktop game, revealed squares show numbers telling you how many mines touch them. That is a genuine logic puzzle. Casino Mines shows you nothing except safe or dead, so the state of the board after four safe clicks tells you only that four safe tiles are gone.",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":1847,"children":1848},{},[1849],{"type":80,"value":1850},"Every unrevealed tile is equally likely to be a mine. Corners, edges, diagonals and the \"cross pattern\" are all the same bet.",{"type":74,"tag":104,"props":1852,"children":1854},{"id":1853},"what-to-verify-instead",[1855],{"type":80,"value":1856},"What to verify instead",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":1858,"children":1859},{},[1860,1862,1868],{"type":80,"value":1861},"Verification is the thing that is worth your attention. Take the pre-round hash, take the revealed seed, hash it and compare. Our ",{"type":74,"tag":243,"props":1863,"children":1865},{"href":1864},"\u002Fcasino\u002Fprovably-fair",[1866],{"type":80,"value":1867},"provably fair checker",{"type":80,"value":1869}," handles the hashing, and if the values match, the layout was fixed before your first click.",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":1871,"children":1872},{},[1873],{"type":80,"value":1874},"An operator that cannot show a pre-round hash has no answer to the \"are the mines moving\" question, and that question is the only rigging concern in this game that would actually matter.",{"type":74,"tag":75,"props":1876,"children":1878},{"id":1877},"what-mines-costs-per-hour",[1879],{"type":80,"value":1880},"What Mines costs per hour",{"type":74,"tag":104,"props":1882,"children":1884},{"id":1883},"auto-pick-makes-the-edge-compound-faster",[1885],{"type":80,"value":1886},"Auto-pick makes the edge compound faster",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":1888,"children":1889},{},[1890],{"type":80,"value":1891},"Most Mines implementations offer an auto mode: pick a tile count, pick a stopping rule, and let it run. The expected value per round does not change, and the rounds per hour roughly triple.",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":1893,"children":1894},{},[1895],{"type":80,"value":1896},"A player clicking manually at three picks per round might complete 200 rounds an hour. The same rule on auto clears 600 without any sense of having bet more, because the decision was made once rather than six hundred times. Expected loss triples along with it.",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":1898,"children":1899},{},[1900],{"type":80,"value":1901},"If you use auto mode, set a round limit rather than a time limit. Time is the variable that auto mode quietly detaches from cost.",{"type":74,"tag":104,"props":1903,"children":1905},{"id":1904},"the-hourly-figures",[1906],{"type":80,"value":1907},"The hourly figures",{"type":74,"tag":111,"props":1909,"children":1910},{},[1911,1942],{"type":74,"tag":115,"props":1912,"children":1913},{},[1914],{"type":74,"tag":119,"props":1915,"children":1916},{},[1917,1922,1927,1932,1937],{"type":74,"tag":123,"props":1918,"children":1919},{"align":320},[1920],{"type":80,"value":1921},"Rounds per hour",{"type":74,"tag":123,"props":1923,"children":1924},{"align":320},[1925],{"type":80,"value":1926},"Stake",{"type":74,"tag":123,"props":1928,"children":1929},{"align":320},[1930],{"type":80,"value":1931},"Turnover",{"type":74,"tag":123,"props":1933,"children":1934},{"align":320},[1935],{"type":80,"value":1936},"Cost at 99%",{"type":74,"tag":123,"props":1938,"children":1939},{"align":320},[1940],{"type":80,"value":1941},"Cost at 95%",{"type":74,"tag":134,"props":1943,"children":1944},{},[1945,1973,2000,2026],{"type":74,"tag":119,"props":1946,"children":1947},{},[1948,1953,1958,1963,1968],{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":1949,"children":1950},{"align":320},[1951],{"type":80,"value":1952},"200",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":1954,"children":1955},{"align":320},[1956],{"type":80,"value":1957},"$1",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":1959,"children":1960},{"align":320},[1961],{"type":80,"value":1962},"$200",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":1964,"children":1965},{"align":320},[1966],{"type":80,"value":1967},"$2.00",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":1969,"children":1970},{"align":320},[1971],{"type":80,"value":1972},"$10.00",{"type":74,"tag":119,"props":1974,"children":1975},{},[1976,1981,1985,1990,1995],{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":1977,"children":1978},{"align":320},[1979],{"type":80,"value":1980},"400",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":1982,"children":1983},{"align":320},[1984],{"type":80,"value":1957},{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":1986,"children":1987},{"align":320},[1988],{"type":80,"value":1989},"$400",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":1991,"children":1992},{"align":320},[1993],{"type":80,"value":1994},"$4.00",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":1996,"children":1997},{"align":320},[1998],{"type":80,"value":1999},"$20.00",{"type":74,"tag":119,"props":2001,"children":2002},{},[2003,2007,2012,2017,2021],{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2004,"children":2005},{"align":320},[2006],{"type":80,"value":1980},{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2008,"children":2009},{"align":320},[2010],{"type":80,"value":2011},"$5",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2013,"children":2014},{"align":320},[2015],{"type":80,"value":2016},"$2,000",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2018,"children":2019},{"align":320},[2020],{"type":80,"value":1999},{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2022,"children":2023},{"align":320},[2024],{"type":80,"value":2025},"$100.00",{"type":74,"tag":119,"props":2027,"children":2028},{},[2029,2034,2038,2043,2048],{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2030,"children":2031},{"align":320},[2032],{"type":80,"value":2033},"800",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2035,"children":2036},{"align":320},[2037],{"type":80,"value":1957},{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2039,"children":2040},{"align":320},[2041],{"type":80,"value":2042},"$800",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2044,"children":2045},{"align":320},[2046],{"type":80,"value":2047},"$8.00",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2049,"children":2050},{"align":320},[2051],{"type":80,"value":2052},"$40.00",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":2054,"children":2055},{},[2056],{"type":80,"value":2057},"A cautious one-pick-and-cash-out style produces very fast rounds, which means high turnover, which means the edge gets applied more times per hour. The safest looking way to play is also the way that pushes the most money through the game.",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":2059,"children":2060},{},[2061,2063,2069,2071,2076,2078,2084],{"type":80,"value":2062},"That is the real cost structure, and it applies the same way to ",{"type":74,"tag":243,"props":2064,"children":2066},{"href":2065},"\u002Fblog\u002Fcrash-gambling-explained",[2067],{"type":80,"value":2068},"crash games",{"type":80,"value":2070}," and to ",{"type":74,"tag":243,"props":2072,"children":2074},{"href":2073},"\u002Fblog\u002Fplinko-gambling-math",[2075],{"type":80,"value":1126},{"type":80,"value":2077},", both of which resolve in seconds. Size the session with our ",{"type":74,"tag":243,"props":2079,"children":2081},{"href":2080},"\u002Fcasino\u002Fbankroll-calculator",[2082],{"type":80,"value":2083},"bankroll calculator",{"type":80,"value":2085}," before the speed decides it for you.",{"type":74,"tag":104,"props":2087,"children":2089},{"id":2088},"how-mines-sits-against-the-rest-of-the-instant-category",[2090],{"type":80,"value":2091},"How Mines sits against the rest of the instant category",{"type":74,"tag":111,"props":2093,"children":2094},{},[2095,2121],{"type":74,"tag":115,"props":2096,"children":2097},{},[2098],{"type":74,"tag":119,"props":2099,"children":2100},{},[2101,2106,2111,2116],{"type":74,"tag":123,"props":2102,"children":2103},{},[2104],{"type":80,"value":2105},"Game",{"type":74,"tag":123,"props":2107,"children":2108},{},[2109],{"type":80,"value":2110},"Decisions after betting",{"type":74,"tag":123,"props":2112,"children":2113},{},[2114],{"type":80,"value":2115},"What the player controls",{"type":74,"tag":123,"props":2117,"children":2118},{},[2119],{"type":80,"value":2120},"Where the edge is charged",{"type":74,"tag":134,"props":2122,"children":2123},{},[2124,2146,2167,2189],{"type":74,"tag":119,"props":2125,"children":2126},{},[2127,2131,2136,2141],{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2128,"children":2129},{},[2130],{"type":80,"value":1447},{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2132,"children":2133},{},[2134],{"type":80,"value":2135},"Cash out timing",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2137,"children":2138},{},[2139],{"type":80,"value":2140},"Mine count, stopping point",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2142,"children":2143},{},[2144],{"type":80,"value":2145},"Once, on entry",{"type":74,"tag":119,"props":2147,"children":2148},{},[2149,2154,2158,2163],{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2150,"children":2151},{},[2152],{"type":80,"value":2153},"Crash",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2155,"children":2156},{},[2157],{"type":80,"value":2135},{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2159,"children":2160},{},[2161],{"type":80,"value":2162},"Target multiplier",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2164,"children":2165},{},[2166],{"type":80,"value":2145},{"type":74,"tag":119,"props":2168,"children":2169},{},[2170,2174,2179,2184],{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2171,"children":2172},{},[2173],{"type":80,"value":1126},{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2175,"children":2176},{},[2177],{"type":80,"value":2178},"None",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2180,"children":2181},{},[2182],{"type":80,"value":2183},"Rows, risk level",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2185,"children":2186},{},[2187],{"type":80,"value":2188},"Every drop, via the paytable",{"type":74,"tag":119,"props":2190,"children":2191},{},[2192,2197,2201,2206],{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2193,"children":2194},{},[2195],{"type":80,"value":2196},"Slots",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2198,"children":2199},{},[2200],{"type":80,"value":2178},{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2202,"children":2203},{},[2204],{"type":80,"value":2205},"Stake, game choice",{"type":74,"tag":141,"props":2207,"children":2208},{},[2209],{"type":80,"value":2210},"Every spin",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":2212,"children":2213},{},[2214],{"type":80,"value":2215},"Mines and crash share a structure: an entry price, then a sequence of decisions that redistribute variance without touching value. Plinko and slots do not even offer that, because there is nothing to decide once the ball or the reel is released.",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":2217,"children":2218},{},[2219],{"type":80,"value":2220},"The practical consequence is the same in all four. The choice that moves money is which game and which paytable, made before you start, and not any decision available to you afterwards.",{"type":74,"tag":75,"props":2222,"children":2224},{"id":2223},"the-verdict",[2225],{"type":80,"value":2226},"The verdict",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":2228,"children":2229},{},[2230],{"type":80,"value":2231},"Mines is a clean game with one honest decision in it, and it is not the decision everyone argues about. Cash-out timing sets your variance, not your return, and on a properly priced table every stopping point is worth the same.",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":2233,"children":2234},{},[2235],{"type":80,"value":2236},"The decision that does matter is which table you are playing on. Fair multipliers are computable in seconds, published paytables range from 1% to 5% margin on identical bets, and one popular setting can return as little as 41%. That gap dwarfs anything a stopping rule could recover.",{"type":74,"tag":82,"props":2238,"children":2239},{},[2240,2242,2248],{"type":80,"value":2241},"Compute the fair multiplier for the configuration you like, compare it to what your game offers, and play the one that pays closest to fair. Readers in the US looking for a licensed operator can start with ",{"type":74,"tag":243,"props":2243,"children":2245},{"href":2244},"\u002Fgo\u002Fbovada",[2246],{"type":80,"value":2247},"Bovada",{"type":80,"value":2249},", and the paytable question is worth asking wherever you land."]