Have you ever visited a casino before, walked to the roulette table and bet on your favourite number...thinking that if it hits, you will make 20X your money?

The ball bounces around, gets closer to your number and your heart starts pounding...a second later, it lands on another spot.

You think to yourself, “Damn...it was a total waste of money, but let’s try my luck at it again.” What is the worst thing that could happen?

Well, you put all your chips into one magical number...and again you end up losing it all to the house.

Casinos offer unlimited entertainment. Even though you don’t gamble, watching other player’s risk everything and manage to beat the odds is fun. Naturally, like all organisations, casinos exist to make a profit for their casino owners. But, have you ever wondered how casinos make money? Is it all down to losing bets by the players right? Actually no. Casinos already have a built-in advantage that works in the favour of casinos. This is known as the house edge. This is by no way the latest development. Casino games like roulette, blackjack, and baccarat, have been famous for almost more than a century and the house edge, which depends on the rules, has not changed much.

What is the house edge?

You possibly must have come across the saying, “The house always wins”? It is true, the house in this refers to the casino. The casino will win in the long run. This is because every game has a mathematical edge. 

The house edge is a percentage representing the advantage that a specific casino has over the player. However, it is not the ratio of money lost to the overall bet. Instead, it determines the average loss to the original bet, making it easier for a player to predict their possible losses during their gaming session.

If you are still struggling to understand it, let’s put it like this - in a game of American Roulette (where the wheel has added double zero), the house edge is 5.26%. This means for every $1 million bets at the table; the casino will make a profit of more than $50,000 and $950,000 of the bet is returned to the bettors. The casino is not intended to bankrupt a player in one sitting. It only wants the player to walk out with less money than they came in within the long term, leaving the casino with a profit.

Why players lose more money than they expect?

Many people who are mindful of the house edge still do not understand its impacts for their bankrolls. They think that the house edge has approximately 5% edge at the roulette table which means that they can plan to sit down with $100, gamble for a few hours, and the probability is that they will lose only about $5. They do not realise that the house edge does not apply to the initial bankroll, but to the total amount of money they bet.  

Let’s say you make a $5 bet on each spin of the roulette wheel, at 50 times an hour. While he may win some bets and lose some, you are betting $250 an hour. If the house edge plays out perfectly, you lose 5% of $1,000 at the end of four hours of play, an amount 10 times greater than what he predicted from his misunderstanding of the casino’s house edge.   

The House Edge for Casino Games

There is a wide range of social casino games and you can be certain that they are built to give the house a complete advantage over the players. However, the house edge for some games is fixed, whereas others might differ depending upon the factors such as rules and the number of decks used. Following are the casino games with the lowest house edge :

Blackjack: 

Blackjack is the ever classic table casino card game. The reason for its popularity is that it is exciting and very easy to play. Playing with the correct blackjack strategy will have a very low house edge. The game with the lowest edge in the casino is usually blackjack. It has a house edge from 0.25 to 2%.

Craps: 

Craps is generally the second-best casino game. The greater the odds, the lower the house edge. The bets at the craps table are the most simple bets. The pass line bet, don’t pass bet, the come bet, and the don’t come bet all have a house edge lower than 1.4%. 

Baccarat: 

Baccarat is one of the most favorite casino games with big gamblers. This is because the house edge is very small when followed with a perfect strategy. The house edge on banker bets is 1.06%, 1.24% on player bets and 14.36% on tie bets.

Three-Card Poker:

Three- card poker is a fun, and easy variation of poker and has gained a lot of attention in casinos because of its speed. The house edge is around 1.5%.

Video Poker: 

Much has been said that the house edge for video poker is 0% only if the right strategy is implemented. But I am quite doubtful, as casino companies are in the business to make money. Video poker has a house edge between 0.3% and 0.5%.

Slots: 

Slot machines are the undisputed kings of casinos, even though the payouts are not being as high as table games. They are also the easiest to play. The house edge of slots is from 2% to over 10%.

Roulette: 

Things are much easier in roulette. It depends on which version you prefer to play. The number of zeroes on the wheel makes a massive difference to your returns. The single zero also known as European version has a house edge of 2.7%, double zero also known as American version has 5.26%, and in triple zero, the house edge skyrockets to 7.7%. This is the reason why experts recommend playing only European roulette.

Pai Gow Poker

Playing Pai Gow Poker, which is like the Chinese version of poker, is a fun game and the player gets a double chance to win. This game gives bettors a chance to play a casino game with comparatively a low house edge of around 2.84%.

Last but not least, we are not going to leave you without a piece of expert advice. 

Whether it is an online casino or land-based casino both have one goal- to make profits. Finding a casino game which you like and also that has a low house edge is a priority. But that is not all that matters. Since you are playing with many other players, make sure that you are the best version of yourself. This can be accomplished by polishing your skills. You can do so by playing your favourite online casino games for free before visiting a casino and investing real money. Once you are confident enough about the game, then you can head over to play for real cash.