SlotThe house edge is the mathematical advantage a casino holds on every bet, expressed as the percentage of your wager it expects to keep long-term. It ranges from roughly 0.5% on well-played blackjack and 1.06% on baccarat’s banker bet to 25%+ on keno. Lower edge means slower losses — but the house always wins eventually.
Every casino game is built so the house keeps a slice of every dollar wagered. That slice is the house edge. If a game has a 2% house edge, you should expect to lose about $2 for every $100 you bet — averaged over the very long run. It is the mirror image of RTP (Return to Player): a 96% RTP slot carries a 4% house edge.
House edge by game
| Game / bet | House edge | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Blackjack (basic strategy) | ~0.5% (range 0.28%–1%+) | Depends heavily on rules; 6:5 payouts push it well above 1% |
| Baccarat — Banker | 1.06% | Lowest standard bet; 5% commission included |
| Baccarat — Player | 1.24% | No commission |
| Baccarat — Tie | 14.36% | Avoid; pays 8:1 |
| Craps — Pass / Come | 1.41% | Core bet |
| Craps — Don’t Pass / Don’t Come | 1.36% | Slightly better than Pass |
| Craps — Odds bet | 0.00% | True-odds; only bet with zero edge (must back a line bet) |
| Craps — Any Seven | 16.67% | One of the worst craps bets |
| Roulette — European (single zero) | 2.70% | One green zero |
| Roulette — American (double zero) | 5.26% | 0 and 00 nearly double the edge |
| Video Poker — 9/6 Jacks or Better | 0.46% | Full-pay table + optimal play only |
| Pai Gow Poker | 1.46% | Against the house |
| Three Card Poker — Ante & Play | 3.37% | Pair Plus side bet is 7.28% |
| Let It Ride | 3.51% | |
| Caribbean Stud Poker | 5.22% | |
| Slots | 2%–15% (commonly ~4% online) | UK average RTP ~96% = 4% edge; varies by game |
| Keno | 25%–29% (live can be 20%–35%) | Among the worst bets in the casino |
| Big Six / Money Wheel | 11.11%–24.07% | Depends on the bet |
What the number actually means
House edge is a long-run average, not a per-session guarantee. In a single hour you can win big or lose everything — variance dominates the short term. The edge only reveals itself over thousands of bets, which is precisely why casinos are profitable and consistent players eventually lose.
Two figures matter alongside house edge. Standard deviation measures how wildly results swing (slots and keno are high-variance; blackjack is low). And crucially, house edge is usually quoted per bet resolved, so the more hands, spins or rolls you play, the more of your money the edge grinds away.
How the edge compounds
This is the part most players miss. House edge applies to total money wagered, not to your buy-in. Suppose you sit down with $100 at a game with a 1% edge and bet $10 a hand. If you play 100 hands, you’ve wagered $1,000 — so your expected loss is about $10, not $1. Play 500 hands and you’ve cycled $5,000, with an expected loss near $50. The edge is small per hand but relentless in aggregate. This is why “time on device” is the casino’s real product: the longer you play, the closer your results converge to the mathematical expectation.
A concrete comparison: a slot with a 6% edge played at $3 per spin for 600 spins per hour cycles $1,800 hourly, for an expected loss of about $108 an hour. A blackjack player betting $25 a hand at 80 hands per hour with a 0.5% edge cycles $2,000 but expects to lose only about $10. Same time, wildly different cost — driven entirely by house edge and bet volume.
Best and worst bets
Best value (lowest edge): the craps Odds bet (0%, but it must back a Pass/Don’t Pass wager), 9/6 Jacks or Better video poker (0.46% with perfect play and the full-pay table), well-ruled blackjack (~0.5%), and baccarat Banker (1.06%). These reward skill or bet selection.
Worst value (highest edge): keno (25%+), Big Six / money wheels (up to ~24%), craps proposition bets like Any Seven (16.67%), the baccarat Tie (14.36%), and many slots at the high end (up to ~15%).
A vital caveat: the headline figures for blackjack and video poker assume correct strategy and favourable pay tables. Deviate from basic strategy, or sit at a 6:5 blackjack or short-pay video poker machine, and the real edge you face can be several times higher. Always check the rules and pay table before you play — the same game name can hide very different odds.
Sources
- Wizard of Odds — House Edge
- Wizard of Odds — Blackjack house edge
- Wizard of Odds — Baccarat
- Wizard of Odds — Video Poker (Jacks or Better)
- Wizard of Odds — Keno
This guide is general information. Gambling always carries risk and the house holds a mathematical edge on every standard game. 18+. Please gamble responsibly.