A house game with one target value
The limbo game: one target value and one figure that decides the round
You choose a multiplier, the game draws one figure, and the round is over. Here is the relation between the target value, the chance and the house edge, with worked examples you can check yourself.
Limbo is one of the simplest house games at a crypto casino. You set a target multiplier, for example 2.00×, and the game draws one result. If the result is equal to or higher than your target, you get the stake multiplied by the target. If it is lower, the stake is lost. There is no curve to follow and no button to press along the way.
The game is related to crash. Imagine a crash round where you have set an automatic cash-out, but where the whole climb has been removed and only the final figure is shown. That is why the mathematics is nearly the same, and why some operators treat the two game types alike in their bonus terms. How limbo and the other house games are spread across the operators can be seen in full on the home page of this site.
Crash: the curve and the stop
How a round of limbo works
A round has only three steps:
- Choose the stake. The amount is in the coin your balance is held in.
- Choose the target value. The higher the target, the larger the win if you hit it, and the less often you hit it.
- Start. The game shows one figure. If it is at least as high as the target, you win.
Most versions show the chance and the target value side by side, so that you see both before you start. Change one and the other changes at once. That is a good check point: the chance multiplied by the target value should always give the same figure, and that figure is the return.
House games like this are made by the casino itself or by a supplier the operator has chosen. So the house edge, the lowest and highest target value and the maximum win can vary from one place to another. The information window in the game is the place to read this. Note the figures the first time you open a new version, and you will see whether anything has changed next time. The ceiling on the maximum win per round is particularly worth knowing, because a very high target can produce a win that is cut off at the ceiling.
Probability and the house edge in limbo
The formula is simple. If the house edge is h and the target value is m, the chance of hitting is roughly (1 − h) / m.
A worked example with a 1% house edge. The figures were chosen to show the relation, not taken from a particular operator:
- target 1.10×: 0.99 / 1.10 = 90.0%
- target 2.00×: 0.99 / 2.00 = 49.5%
- target 10.00×: 0.99 / 10.00 = 9.9%
- target 100.00×: 0.99 / 100.00 = 0.99%
Multiply the chance by the target value and you get 0.99 every time. That means you get back on average 99% of what you stake, whichever target you choose. The house edge does not sit in one particular target, then, but is baked into the whole distribution of results.
A useful way to see it: with no house edge the chance for target 2.00× would have been exactly 50%. With a 1% house edge you lose half a percentage point of that chance. For target 10.00× the chance goes from 10% to 9.9%. The difference looks small per round, but it is there in every single one. How such percentages work over many rounds is explained in the walk-through of the return and the house edge.
A high or a low target: the swings change
The average is the same, but the experience is very different.
A worked example. With a 1% house edge and 20 rounds in a row:
- Target 2.00× gives a 49.5% chance per round. You can expect around ten hits, and most sessions end not far from the starting amount.
- Target 10.00× gives a 9.9% chance. The chance of at least one hit over 20 rounds is 1 − 0.901²⁰, about 87.6%.
- Target 100.00× gives a 0.99% chance. The chance of at least one hit over 20 rounds is only around 18%, so in four out of five such sessions you do not hit once.
A high target does not make the game more expensive on average, then, but the losing runs get longer and the wins rarer. Plan the stake accordingly. Put 1% of the balance per round on target 100.00× and the balance can shrink a long way before the first hit arrives.
The same holds for systems where you raise the stake after a loss. Every round still has the same house edge. The system only makes a rare, long losing run cost a great deal.
Auto-staking and stop rules
Many versions have an auto function that plays round after round with the same target. It is handy, but it also plays much faster than you would by hand, and then the number of rounds — and with it the combined house edge — grows without you noticing.
A worked example. You put 0.50 USDT per round on target 2.00× with a 1% house edge. After 1,000 automatic rounds you have staked 500 USDT. The expected loss is 1% of that, so 5 USDT, but the spread around the average is wide: the result can easily land 15–20 USDT above or below.
So the stop rules matter more than the target itself. Most auto panels let you set:
- a number of rounds before auto stops,
- a loss amount that stops the series,
- a win that stops the series.
Set all three before you start. Stop rules do not change the house edge, but they prevent a long series from carrying on while you are looking the other way. A similar calculation with over/under instead of a target multiplier is in the guide to the dice game.
Checking the round with the seed
Most house games of this kind use an arrangement of a server seed, a client seed and a nonce. The operator shows you a hash of the server seed before you play. Your client seed and a counter for each round go into the calculation. When you change the server seed, you get to see the old one, and you can recalculate the results.
If the hash matches and the results match, the rounds were not altered after the hash was shown. The check does not cover the house edge, the limits on winnings or the terms on the account. The course of the check is set out step by step on the page about the seed and the hash.
Crash, the target game and bonus terms
Because the two game types are so alike, some operators group them together. Metaspins does so in cl. 14.13.1 of its terms, read on 2 September 2026: crash and limbo stand in one common group when bonuses are to be wagered through.
For you that means you should read the bonus terms before using a bonus on such games. The group can decide how much the stakes count towards the wagering requirement, and whether the games are allowed with bonus funds at all. If the answer is not there, ask customer service in writing and keep the reply.
The crash format, with its curve, studios and titles, is described on the page about crash rounds.
Before you play with coins
The game itself is the same everywhere; it is the operator that differs. Before a first deposit it is wise to find three things in the terms: when the ID check starts, which amount triggers it, and how long you have to deliver the papers. Wild Fortune, for example, gives two weeks to send documents (cl. 8.4 and 9.3), while the document period at Rainbet is 72 hours (cl. 20.1).
Twelve operators are assessed on five such points in the ranked casino overview. Decide on a loss amount before the first round, too. Hjelpelinjen (hjelpelinjen.no) gives free help if play becomes hard to control.