The Hold Rate Hiding in a Trading Card Pack

By SCCG Management

Card rips platforms do not report a hold percentage, but the number is there, sitting in the gap between what a pack costs and what the platform says the average pack is worth. Barron's, as cited by Sportico, reported that disclosed average pack values usually run 5% to 15% below the purchase price. For a gaming executive, that spread is a theoretical hold, and it belongs next to the numbers regulated products report every month.

The benchmarks

Nevada slot machines held an average of 7.1% statewide in 2025, according to a UNLV Center for Gaming Research study reported by Covers. That figure has crept up from 6.55% in 2004. Nevada sportsbooks have posted monthly holds this year ranging from 6.0% in March to 8.7% in June, per Nevada Gaming Control Board data reported by Covers. DFS pick'em operators do not publish hold. Their fixed payout tables, however, imply margins well into double digits on multi-leg entries.

On a single purchase, a rips pack priced 5% to 15% above its disclosed value sits squarely in that range: comparable to a slot at the low end, above a typical sportsbook month at the high end. The difference is that a slot's theoretical return is tested by an independent lab and filed with a regulator. A rips platform's average value is calculated by the platform itself, usually from third-party price indexes it chooses.

Why the real number is higher

Single-pack margin understates player losses, for the same reason slot hold on handle understates hold on drop. The product is built to recycle money. Barron's reported instant sell-back rates as high as 98% at some apps, which means a pull can go straight back into the player's balance, ready for the next pack. As an illustration only: a player who cycles the same bankroll five times through packs carrying a 10% spread keeps about 59% of it. That is the slot-floor dynamic, without the slot-floor oversight.

New entrants are leaning into exactly this feature. Crypto.com launched Crypto.com Rips on Nov. 9, guaranteeing a buyback of every pull at a locked-in price and showing odds before each pack is opened. Its announcement does not state the sell-back price as a share of card value or the expected value of a pack. FanDuel, meanwhile, is testing rips through Arena Club access for Rewards Club members, and Flutter CEO Dan Taylor told Barron's, per Covers: "We've done some trials already, and those trials have gone very well."

What operators and regulators should take from it

The economics explain the rush. A slot-like margin with no gaming tax is a strong business. For licensed operators, the comparison should shape diligence: ask any rips partner for disclosed expected value, sell-back pricing as a share of index value, and re-rip rates. For regulators, the useful question is not yet whether rips are gambling. It is who verifies the number that functions as their hold.

Next in this series: Is It Gambling? The prize, chance and consideration test applied to rips, including the shipping defense and the sweepstakes analogies.

Source reporting: Sportico, Barron's, Covers, UNLV Center for Gaming Research, Nevada Gaming Control Board, Crypto.com.