What does a Stake Mines calculator compute?

The survival probability for k safe picks with m mines on the 25-tile board, Π (25 − m − i) ÷ (25 − i), and the multiplier that follows from it. With 3 mines and 5 picks that is 49.57%, a fair 2.0175× and a paid 1.9974× under the 99% RTP Stake and Shuffle publish for Mines.

Is the paid multiplier the same at every casino?

No. The probability is fixed by the board, but the multiplier is 0.99 ÷ P only where the operator publishes 99% RTP and rounds the way this page does. Compare the figure in the game panel; a different figure means a different edge or rounding, not a different board.

Does cashing out early lower the house edge?

No. The paid multiplier is 0.99 times the fair one at every step, so the expected return is 0.99 per unit whether you stop after one pick (96.00% safe with one mine, 4.00% with 24) or clear the board. What changes is the variance.

Mines calculator: survival odds and multipliers

A Mines calculator answers one question exactly: how likely is it to reveal k safe tiles with m mines on the 5×5 board, and what should that pay? With 3 mines and 5 picks the survival chance is 49.57%, about 1 in 2.02; a fair game pays 2.0175× and a 99% RTP game such as Stake Mines pays 1.9974× before rounding. Set your own board below; the table shows every pick count.

Disclosure: VerifyRoll is sponsored by Craze, a competitor of Stake and Shuffle, whose published 99% Mines RTP is modelled. Figures here are computed or taken from what operators publish, dated; nothing is estimated.

inputs

Mines on the board

1 to 24 of 25 tiles.

Safe picks in a row

1 to 22 with 3 mines.

Free version: play this on PlinkoLab (play money, same maths).

See the maths

Mines are placed uniformly, so every unrevealed tile is equally likely to hold one. Pick i (counting from 0) is safe with probability (25 − m − i) ÷ (25 − i): safe tiles left over tiles left.

P(survive k picks) = Π_(i=0)^(k−1) (25 − m − i) / (25 − i)
                  = 22/25 × 21/24 × 20/23 × 19/22 × 18/21
                  = 0.49565217

A fair game would pay the reciprocal. The published 99% RTP for Mines means the paid multiplier is 0.99 times that, at every step, before the operator's rounding.

fair = 1 / P = 2.0175439
paid = 0.99 / P = 1.9973684

Because the 0.99 factor is constant, the expected return is 0.99 per unit staked whether you stop after one pick or 22. Cashing out early does not change the edge.

result3 mines · 5 picks

With 3 mines, clearing 5 tiles in a row happens 49.57% of the time, about 1 in 2.02.

survival

49.57%

1 in 2.02

fair multiplier

2.02×

1 ÷ probability

paid at 99% RTP

2.00×

0.99 ÷ probability, before rounding

all outcomes · 3 mines22 safe tiles

picks	survival	1 in	fair	paid (0.99×)
1	88.00%	1.14	1.14×	1.13×
2	77.00%	1.30	1.30×	1.29×
3	66.96%	1.49	1.49×	1.48×
4	57.83%	1.73	1.73×	1.71×
5	49.57%	2.02	2.02×	2.00×
6	42.13%	2.37	2.37×	2.35×
7	35.48%	2.82	2.82×	2.79×
8	29.57%	3.38	3.38×	3.35×
9	24.35%	4.11	4.11×	4.07×
10	19.78%	5.05	5.05×	5.00×
11	15.83%	6.32	6.32×	6.26×
12	12.43%	8.04	8.04×	7.96×
13	9.57%	10.5	10.45×	10.35×
14	7.17%	13.9	13.94×	13.80×
15	5.22%	19.2	19.17×	18.97×
16	3.65%	27.4	27.38×	27.11×
17	2.43%	41.1	41.07×	40.66×
18	1.52%	65.7	65.71×	65.06×
19	0.8696%	115	115.00×	113.85×
20	0.4348%	230	230.00×	227.70×
21	0.1739%	575	575.00×	569.25×
22	0.0435%	2,300	2,300×	2,277×

Paid multipliers are the arithmetic 0.99 ÷ P; operators round, and some publish slightly different tables. Compare against the game's own panel. Total survival at 22 picks: 0.0435%, fixed 2,300 to 1 against.

paid multiplier at 99% rtp · mines × picks0.99 ÷ P

mines	1 pick	2 picks	3 picks	5 picks	10 picks
1	1.03× (96.00%)	1.08× (92.00%)	1.12× (88.00%)	1.24× (80.00%)	1.65× (60.00%)
3	1.13× (88.00%)	1.29× (77.00%)	1.48× (66.96%)	2.00× (49.57%)	5.00× (19.78%)
5	1.24× (80.00%)	1.56× (63.33%)	2.00× (49.57%)	3.39× (29.18%)	17.52× (5.65%)
10	1.65× (60.00%)	2.83× (35.00%)	5.00× (19.78%)	17.52× (5.65%)	1,078× (0.0919%)
24	24.75× (4.00%)	—	—	—	—

Multiplier, then survival probability in brackets. “—” means fewer safe tiles than picks. Computed at build time from the same function as the calculator; 0.99 is the published RTP, not an estimate.

Loading calculator…

questions

What does a Stake Mines calculator compute?: The survival probability for k safe picks with m mines on the 25-tile board, Π (25 − m − i) ÷ (25 − i), and the multiplier that follows from it. With 3 mines and 5 picks that is 49.57%, a fair 2.0175× and a paid 1.9974× under the 99% RTP Stake and Shuffle publish for Mines.
Is the paid multiplier the same at every casino?: No. The probability is fixed by the board, but the multiplier is 0.99 ÷ P only where the operator publishes 99% RTP and rounds the way this page does. Compare the figure in the game panel; a different figure means a different edge or rounding, not a different board.
Does cashing out early lower the house edge?: No. The paid multiplier is 0.99 times the fair one at every step, so the expected return is 0.99 per unit whether you stop after one pick (96.00% safe with one mine, 4.00% with 24) or clear the board. What changes is the variance.

Every figure on this page is computed in your browser from the inputs shown. The URL carries the inputs, so a copied link reproduces the result. Last reviewed 2026-09-23.

Mines calculator: survival odds and multipliers

Craze publishes RTP on every game and runs its own provably fair Originals.