Cash out (cash-out game term)
In a cash-out game you end the round and lock in your multiplier. Coin Flip's ladder shows why cashing out early or late returns the same 97 percent.
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To cash out of a round, in the sense used by games like Coin Flip, Mines and Crash, is to end the round and lock in the multiplier you have reached. It has nothing to do with taking money out: Cashout Arcade coins are virtual, have no cash value and cannot be withdrawn. The word names a game mechanic, the decision to stop.
How the decision works
In a cash-out game, each step you survive raises the multiplier and each failed step ends the round with nothing. You choose when to stop. Cashing out early gives a small, likely payout; waiting gives a bigger, less likely one.
Worked example: the Coin Flip ladder
In Coin Flip every call is a 50 percent chance, and the multiplier after n correct calls is 0.97 times 2 to the power n.
| Correct calls | Chance of reaching this step | Multiplier if you cash out | Chance x multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 50% | 1.94x | 0.97 |
| 2 | 25% | 3.88x | 0.97 |
| 3 | 12.5% | 7.76x | 0.97 |
| 4 | 6.25% | 15.52x | 0.97 |
| 5 | 3.125% | 31.04x | 0.97 |
The last column is the point. Whatever step you choose to stop at, the chance of getting there times the payout is 0.97, which is the game's 97 percent return. Cashing out earlier or later does not raise or lower the long-run average; it only changes how often you win and how big the wins are. The ladder reaches 15 flips, and the top multiplier of 31,784x is the 15th step.
Cash out versus a cash-out button in a live game
In Crash the multiplier rises on its own and you must tap before it crashes. The same rule holds: the chance that the round reaches any multiplier is set so that waiting for it returns 97 percent, so a later tap is a riskier version of the same bet.
Common misconceptions
- "Cashing out at the right moment beats the house." Every step has the same average return, so no timing does.
- "If I almost reached the next step, I should have waited." The result of the next step is only known after the fact and does not show what would have happened to you.
- "Cash out means real cash." It is a game term, and coins are virtual.
See Multiplier (definition and payout examples) and Casino Game Terms: Slots, Tables and Arcade Games Defined for related terms, and How cash-out games work for the Mines version of this table.