On this page
Predictor
Introduction
Predictor is one of several games invented by BetSoft, a provider of software for Internet casinos. It is a simple numbers game where the player predicts whether the next number will be higher or lower than the previous number and/or the color of the next number. It bears a strong resemblance to the Playtech game Megaball, but Predictor is played Card Sharks style, while Megaball is more like keno.
Rules
- The game consists of 48 mining carts, numbered from 1 to 48.
- Each mining cart has a color — red, blue, or green. If you divide the cart number by 3 and have a remainder of 0, then the color is green. If the remainder is 1, then it is red. If it is 2, then it is blue.
- The game starts with the player making a wager.
- The game will then select a cart at random.
- The player may then make any of the following wagers on the next cart, except any that are impossible to win:
- Red
- Blue
- Green
- Higher
- Lower
- Higher and red
- Lower and red
- Higher and blue
- Lower and blue
- Higher and green
- Lower and green
- The odds offered are expressed on a "for one" basis and are 96% of fair value, rounded to the nearest penny.
- Carts are drawn without replacement, except for a dumped cart.
- The player may quit or "bank half" at any time. This means to collect half the current balance and wager the other half.
- On the first cart only, the player may dump it in exchange for a different cart.
Analysis
Let's look at the situation of the first cart being blue 11 as an example. The following table shows the number of possible winning carts for each bet, the probability of winning, the offered odds, the fair odds, and the expected value. The expected value is the ratio of the offered odds to the fair odds.
Blue 11 Analysis
| Bet | Winning Carts |
Probability | Pays | Fair Odds |
Expected Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | 15 | 0.319149 | 3.01 | 3.133333 | 0.960638 |
| Red | 16 | 0.340426 | 2.82 | 2.937500 | 0.960000 |
| Green | 16 | 0.340426 | 2.82 | 2.937500 | 0.960000 |
| Higher | 37 | 0.787234 | 1.22 | 1.270270 | 0.960426 |
| Lower | 10 | 0.212766 | 4.51 | 4.700000 | 0.959574 |
| Blue and lower | 3 | 0.063830 | 15.04 | 15.666667 | 0.960000 |
| Blue and higher | 12 | 0.255319 | 3.76 | 3.916667 | 0.960000 |
| Red and lower | 4 | 0.085106 | 11.28 | 11.750000 | 0.960000 |
| Red and higher | 12 | 0.255319 | 3.76 | 3.916667 | 0.960000 |
| Green and lower | 3 | 0.063830 | 15.04 | 15.666667 | 0.960000 |
| Green and higher | 13 | 0.276596 | 3.47 | 3.615385 | 0.959787 |
You can see in the table above that the expected odds are always close to 96%. Any variation is due to rounding of the offered odds.
Strategy
Much like roulette, just do whatever you wish. The odds are the same no matter what you do, other than the possibility to gain a fraction of a penny in the rounding.