What Are High Rollers in a Casino?

You may have heard high rollers mentioned in terms of casino players, but what exactly does this term mean?

We’ll be taking a look at who casino high rollers are and whether they tend to win often or not.

How Much Do They Bet?

This is a player who bets large sums of money in the casino, but there’s no exact definition of how much a high roller wager is in each session or on each game. Some sources suggest that this type of player regularly wagers $100 or more on each hand at table games. Others will wager far more than this.

In terms of slots, they might stake $25 on each spin, or they could all the way up to $100, $200, or whatever the limit is. This isn’t just a single bet or a couple of them. A high roller could spend millions in a single night by wagering over and over again.

Individual casinos may have some guidelines in place to help their employees to spot high rollers, and as a player, you can probably identify which other people there are high rollers by watching them play.

Online or in Physical Casinos

There’s no difference between high rollers in land casinos and online sites. This is because players can place large wagers on the same games in both of these ways of gambling. Someone who enjoys the thrill of large stakes will find that it’s the same in either type of casino.

Of course, as a player you won’t know what others are wagering in a safe casino online, whereas in a physical casino you can easily see who is betting big amounts time after time. In fact, many visitors enjoy watching the high rollers play.

Some high rollers may prefer the atmosphere of a physical casino, which is where the introduction of online live casino games has helped. This way of playing gives the player a table with a live-streamed dealer and they often have the option of playing with high limits.

Do They Come Out Ahead?

This is the big question that everyone wants to know the answer to. Do the high rollers take home a big profit from the casino or do they leave a big chunk of money there? The truth is that every player is different, so some will win big while others lose a lot of money.

This will come down to issues such as the games they play and the strategies they choose to use. Casino games all have a house edge that should, in theory, see them come out with a profit overall. However, a high roller who goes on a winning streak can seriously skew their figures.

There have been spectacular stories of famous high rollers winning huge amounts of money at games like roulette, but one story – that of Sean Connery winning on 17 at roulette three times in a row – appears to not be true.

What we don’t know is whether they come out ahead at the end of the session. A player like this could win hundreds of thousands of dollars and then wager it again right away.

What Do Casinos Think of High Rollers?

These are among the most unpredictable casino players. While most of us leave with a small profit or a small loss, a high roller could either win a huge sum or lose a lot. The size of their wagers means that a single roll of the dice or spin of the roulette wheel can be worth a lot of cash.

In general terms, casinos love these players and go out of their way to make them feel at home.  They tend to be the casino’s most profitable customers, even if they only make up a small percentage of the total number of players.

This is why they will typically offer them special deals, the chance to play at private tables, and even gifts. A casino wants to look after their high rollers, even if they’re aware of the risk of losing a large sum of money to them.

What Is a Low Roller?

At the opposite end of the scale are the low rollers. The majority of casino players fit into this description, as these are people who place relatively small wagers on the games. They can still win as much as high rollers but it would take them longer to do so.

Casinos don’t ignore low rollers, as they make up the bulk of their business. Even if a small stake is used, that builds up to a large sum when you consider how many players take part during the course of a single day. 

Casinos like to look after these players and do so in a number of ways. For example, they allow small wagers and offer bonuses that help low rollers to play for longer. It’s clear that there’s room in the casino industry for low rollers and for high rollers too.