Casino house edge varies dramatically by game: blackjack can be as low as 0.28% with proper rules, while keno reaches 29%. Our guide compares house edges across popular games, explains which bets to choose and avoid, defines how house edge relates to RTP, and introduces metrics like standard deviation, element of risk, and hands per hour that influence your actual playing experience and bankroll management.
Best and Worst Casino Game Odds: House Edge Guide 2026
By Adela Mariuta
Table of contents
Top Casino Games Offering the Lowest House Edges
What Casino Games Have the Best Odds?
- Blackjack offers the best odds overall and a low edge of 0.28% with Liberal Vegas rules
- Baccarat has a house edge of 1.06% for a Banker bet
- Crap’s best bet is the Don’t Pass bet, of which the casino will keep 1.36% over the long run
- The best live casino sites offer a highly competitive edge of 2.70% if you play the European variant
- Video poker as a Full Play version is another potentially profitable option, with a low 0.5% house edge
Why the House Edge Matters
The concept of house edge refers to the casino’s guaranteed percentage of each bet players make within the games. Every casino game is designed to generate profit, so every game has a house edge, including table games, slots, live dealers, keno and bingo. The house odds reveal the percentage of a wager the platform retains as profit, irrespective of the bet’s result. To put things into perspective, it is the opposite of slot games’ RTP. It’s vital to check the house odds for every game you play, but unlicensed casinos may not post such information and mislead Irish players. Luckily, if you choose from our list of the best online casinos, you can rest assured that all platforms we endorse operate with a valid license. House Advantage vs Return to Player
- The concepts are two faces of the same coin
- European roulette has a 2.7% built-in casino advantage, and its RTP is 97.3%
- Similarly, Starburst is a slot with an approximate RTP of 96%
- That means the gambling site keeps around 4% of all wagers
- Don’t forget that these stats are calculated over a long series of wagers
Evaluating the House Edge in Your Favorite Casino Games
- The house advantage expresses how much the casino will profit from each game
- You shouldn’t see it as if casinos were cheating because that’s not the case
- Gaming platforms publish the house odds for every game of chance in their portfolio
- From a player’s perspective, you get the best gambling odds when you identify the lowest edge on casino games available in blackjack and other card games
- Non-skilled games like roulette can become more profitable, too, if you grasp the different house edges behind each bet
Casino House Edge Example
We exemplify the house edge in roulette with a real-life scenario with even-money bets. Roulette house odds scenario
- For every €100 wagered during a gaming session at the roulette table, that casino will keep around €2.7
- However, the house advantage applies over a long-term period and serves more as a guiding principle
- Even when a player is on a winning streak, the gambling venue will beat most other players, taking its 2.7% from them
- Due to its built-in advantage, the casino will always be in a better position to win than the player
- However, if you apply the correct gambling strategies and choose the best odds, you might overcome part of that advantage
House Odds are Probabilistic in Nature
The house odds represent a probability, a mathematically derived percentage that shows how often something will occur if repeated in a specific number of instances. In gambling, the longer a player bets, the closer he will get to the statistical house advantage or RTP rates.
Expected Value for the Best House Edge Casino Games
- Blackjack: -0,5%
- European Roulette: -2,7%
- American Roulette: -5,26%
- Caribbean Stud Poker: -5,22%
- Baccarat Banker: -1,05%
- Craps Don’t Pass: -1,36%
- Video Poker: -1%
Gambling games have a negative expected value because they are built to favour the casino.
Additional Factors to Consider for Casino Games with the Great Odds
You have to keep an eye on several other factors besides the casino edge if you want to steer closer to winning rather than losing. The best gambling odds will be achieved when you take into consideration a game’s uncertainty factor, the number of hands played, and more. Comprehensive knowledge of all relevant gambling concepts is the best recipe for productive outcomes!
Element of Risk
Because there are many variables during a game, the casino edge is only an approximation of your chances of winning. To better manage the uncertainty, you need to better understand the element of risk. Expert Irish players use it to calculate a more realistic probability of winning during multiple betting rounds. It offers a modified house advantage by taking into consideration your average losses and dividing that by the money bet overall.
Standard Deviation
Applying the concept of standard deviation in gambling can help you calculate bankroll volatility. Low standard deviation means that most results will resemble a computed average, which in gambling translates to getting expected results as per the odds. On the other hand, a high standard deviation points to more dispersion. That’s equivalent to less predictability and more bankroll volatility. In other words, you risk more. The table below shows the outcomes of sessions within various numbers of standard deviations.
Standard Deviation Table
Hold
In a land-based casino, the hold is a correlation between the chips sold and the chips kept by the house. It is another way of computing house profits, and it gets expressed as a percentage. The same goes for online gambling sites and games. The hold isn’t fixed, and it constantly changes as players win or lose at the table.
Hold Example
- We can take a baccarat table to illustrate the hold
- Suppose a player wagers €100 on multiple bets
- After a few rounds, he ends up with €75
- In that case, the table keeps €25, which means the hold is 25%
What about major casino returns?
The hold can go over 100% when players get positive returns Suppose a player puts €100 in a slot machine and triggers a jackpot of €1,000 after a few spins In that case, the hold is actually negative (-900%) since the house must pay the jackpot
Hands per Hour
Hands per hour show the median number of hands played during a specific game The number of players participating in the game can influence the final number of hands played per hour
Hands per Hour Example
Final Look at Casino House Edge: Key Takeaways
- The casino edge guarantees its long-term advantage over players
- It varies between casino games, but blackjack has the lowest
- Casino tables’ edge is equivalent to a reversed Return To Player rate in slot games
- The metric dictates the average profit the gaming venue will make from a specific game
- To get the best gambling odds, you should search for games with a lower house edge
Meet Our Experts
Author
Adela Mariuta
Author & Editor
With 400+ casino reviews written since 2019, Adela Mariuta serves as Senior Casino Specialist at CasinoAlpha. She has tested deposit limits and reality checks at multiple casino brands, deconstructed casino marketing claims, and analyzed bonus fairness.
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