Poker tournaments
Unfortunately there is no simple way to find out about overlays. They are more frequent online and in smaller events, but few places ever advertise that theii tournaments are overlays. Players need to do the math themselves in most cases.
A typical casino game rarely pays back more than 98 percent to its customers, which means you will lose at least $2 for every $100 wagered. But many tournaments return all the entry fees back to the players in prize money, making these events a tremendous value. And some tournaments offer lucrative overlays, giving players a return of more than 100 percent on their gambling dollar.
However even in a tournament with a good overlay, most players end up losing money because the prizes are very top heavy. So what does a return of more than 100 percent mean? A player with average tournament skills is a favorite 1:o win money over the long run, but not necessarily in that individual event. For example, the house has the edge in slots and the return is 98 percent, but the actual amount a player gets back for each $100 bet can be far higher or lower than $98. But over time, $98 is the average.
Overlays happen frequently in tournaments because many casinos either guarantee the prize money or add extra dough to sweeten the pot. Take Bodog Casino for example. Bodog has a weekly poker tournament that guarantees $100,000 in prize money every Sunday. Because the entry fee is $100 per person, Bodog needs at least 1,000 players to sign up to break even (because of the guarantee). Yet this tournament always has less than 1,000 players, which creates a profitable overlay, because if only 600 people sign up, $60,000 goes in, and $100,000 goes out. This extra $40,000 is essentially free money split among the 600 players (EV is determined by dividing the extra money by the total number of players). That translates into a 170 percent return on your money, a number much higher than the 98 percent or less return offered in most casino games.