Odds tools
Casino Mines odds calculator
The exact probability of surviving safe picks, the fair total payout, and the payout implied by your chosen house edge. Compare the maths with the game's actual payout table.
The fair multiplier is exactly 1 ÷ probability — the break-even payout if the game had no margin. Casinos pay slightly less (the house edge), which is the gap between the two figures above. The next tile is always riskier than the last; this tool computes the odds of having survived all the safe tiles revealed so far.
3 mines and 3 safe picks: the answer
On a 25-tile board, surviving three safe picks with three mines has a 66.96% probability. The fair total payout is 1.4935×; with an illustrative 1% house edge, it becomes 1.4786×. Total payout includes the original stake, so a $10 stake would return about $14.79 on success, including $4.79 profit. This example cannot predict where mines are.
The mathematics
Mines is one of the few casino games whose odds can be derived exactly in a line of arithmetic. With m mines hidden among 25 tiles, your first pick is safe with probability (25 − m) / 25. Having survived it, 24 tiles remain and m are still mines, so the next is safe with probability (24 − m) / 24, and so on down.
Multiply those terms for the number of picks you intend to make and you have your survival probability. A mathematically fair payout is its reciprocal: if you survive one time in four, a fair game pays 4×. The operator pays slightly less, and that difference is its margin — see house edge-adjusted payout in the glossary.
What the numbers do not tell you
Picks within a round are without replacement: after a safe pick, fewer safe tiles remain, so the next pick has a different conditional probability. Across independent rounds, a previous loss does not make a win due. At a fixed house edge in this model, changing the configuration does not remove the expected loss.
Questions
What is the best Stake Mines strategy?
This calculator cannot find mines or predict a round. In its model, each mine count and cash-out point has the same expected loss when the same house edge applies; check the game's current payout rules for its actual edge and rounding. Changing the mine count changes the risk and multiplier, not that edge. Progressive betting systems do not remove the house edge.
What are the odds of 3 safe picks with 3 mines?
On a 25-tile grid with 3 mines, the probability of picking 3 consecutive safe tiles is (22/25) × (21/24) × (20/23) = 66.96%. The mathematically fair total payout is 1.4935× your stake. At an illustrative 1% house edge, the adjusted total payout is 1.4786×. An operator's rounding rules can change the displayed payout.
Where do these numbers come from?
Straight combinatorics. On a 25-tile grid with m mines, the chance that your first pick is safe is (25−m)/25; the chance the second is safe is (24−m)/24, and so on. Multiply those together for the probability of surviving a given number of picks. The fair multiplier is simply the reciprocal of that probability.
Why is the operator's payout lower than the fair multiplier?
That gap is the house edge, and it is the operator's entire business model. A fair multiplier returns exactly your expected stake over the long run; the operator pays slightly less, and the difference — typically around 1% — is its margin. The calculator shows both figures so the margin is visible rather than buried in a payout table.
Does a higher mine count give better value?
In this model, no: at the same configured house edge, more mines produce rarer, larger wins but the same expected loss per stake. Actual games may apply payout rounding or different rules, so check the operator's payout table. More mines do not reveal a winning pattern.
Can I use this to beat the game?
No. The calculator has no information about mine locations or future rounds. Picks within a round are without replacement, so each successful pick changes the next pick's conditional probability. In this model, no sequence of picks removes the configured house edge. The tool describes odds; it is not a predictor.
Odds, not strategy.18+ only. This tool describes the game’s mathematics. It cannot predict outcomes, cannot locate mines, and cannot produce a winning system — the house edge applies to every configuration.