Every casino game is built around one number, and almost nobody at the table can tell you what it is for the game they’re playing. That number is the casino house edge — the mathematical advantage that guarantees the casino profits over time. Understand it and you can predict, roughly, what any bet will cost you.
The definition, plainly
The house edge is the average percentage of each wager the casino expects to keep in the long run. If a game has a 2% edge, then over thousands of bets you’ll lose about $2 for every $100 you wager — not on any single hand, but as a long-run average. It’s the price of admission, expressed as a percentage.
House edge vs. RTP — two sides of one coin
You’ll also see RTP (Return to Player), common in video poker and slots. They’re the same fact stated two ways: RTP + house edge = 100%. A 99.5% RTP game has a 0.5% house edge; a 94% RTP slot has a 6% edge. Whenever a game advertises RTP, just subtract from 100 to get what it’s really costing you.
How the number is calculated
House edge comes from comparing what a bet actually pays against what it should pay at true odds. Classic example: a single-number roulette bet on a double-zero wheel wins 1 time in 38, so fair odds are 37-to-1 — but the casino pays only 35-to-1. That two-unit shortfall, spread across 38 outcomes, works out to 5.26%. Every house edge is some version of this gap between true probability and actual payout.
The edge is not the “hold”
One common confusion: the house edge is per bet, not per visit. Because players re-wager their winnings, the casino’s actual take from your buy-in — the “hold” — is usually far higher than the headline edge. A 1% edge game can still relieve you of most of a buy-in over a long session, simply because the same money gets bet many times. Low edge buys you time and swings, not immunity.
Edge by game, at a glance
- Blackjack (basic strategy): ~0.5%
- Full-pay video poker: ~0.5% (some Deuces games flip positive)
- Baccarat (Banker): 1.06%
- Craps (Pass line): 1.41%
- Roulette: 2.7% (single-zero) to 5.26% (double-zero)
- Three Card Poker: ~3.4%
- Slots: 4%–12%, usually hidden
How to minimise what you pay
Three levers, in order of impact: choose low-edge games (blackjack, baccarat, full-pay video poker); play them correctly (basic strategy and optimal holds are where most players leak); and check the rule variations that swing the edge (3:2 vs 6:5, single- vs double-zero, the exact pay table). To compare specific games and rule sets quickly, a house edge calculator does the arithmetic for you, turning a fuzzy “is this a good bet?” into a hard percentage before you risk a chip.
Master this one number and you stop gambling blind. You won’t beat the house on most games — but you’ll always know exactly what you’re paying for the entertainment, and you’ll pay as little as the floor allows.
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