House edge explained: the number behind every casino game

What the house edge is

The house edge is the average share of each bet that a casino game keeps. It is built into the payouts: the game pays slightly less than the true odds of each outcome, and that gap is the casino's margin.

A simple example is a coin flip. If heads and tails were each paid at 2× your stake, the game would be even and the casino would make nothing. If it pays 1.98× instead, you lose 2 cents on every $1 bet on average, so the house edge is 1%.

No single bet "contains" exactly that loss. You either win or lose the whole bet. The edge only appears as an average over many bets, but because a casino handles millions of bets, that average is very reliable for the casino, and over enough of your own play it becomes reliable for you too.

House edge and RTP are the same number

Slots usually quote RTP (return to player) instead of house edge. The two are two sides of one figure:

RTP = 100% − house edge

A slot with 96% RTP has a 4% house edge. A dice game with 99% RTP has a 1% edge. When a casino advertises "99% RTP originals", it is telling you the edge is 1%.

RTP figures for slots come from the game provider and are usually certified by a testing lab. Some providers release the same slot in several RTP versions, and the casino chooses which one to run, so it is worth checking the game's information panel at the casino you actually play at.

Typical house edges by game

These are standard figures for common game versions. Exact numbers depend on the rules, the paytable and, for slots, the RTP version the casino runs.

Game	Typical house edge	RTP
Blackjack, basic strategy, good rules	about 0.5%	about 99.5%
Crypto originals (dice, limbo, plinko, mines)	about 1%	about 99%
Baccarat, banker bet	1.06%	98.94%
Baccarat, player bet	1.24%	98.76%
European roulette (single zero)	2.70%	97.30%
Online slots	typically 3–6%	typically 94–97%
American roulette (double zero)	5.26%	94.74%
Baccarat, tie bet at 8:1	14.36%	85.64%

Why these numbers look the way they do

Roulette. A European wheel has 37 pockets but pays a single-number bet at 35 to 1, as if there were 36. That missing pocket is 1/37, or 2.70%. An American wheel adds a double zero, making 2/38, or 5.26%.

Baccarat. The banker hand wins slightly more often than the player hand, so the casino takes a 5% commission on banker wins. That leaves a 1.06% edge on banker and 1.24% on player. The tie bet pays 8 to 1 on an outcome that is much less likely than that, which is why its edge is so high.

Blackjack. The edge depends on rules (how many decks, whether the dealer hits soft 17, what blackjack pays) and on how you play. Around 0.5% assumes perfect basic strategy. Playing by feel typically costs a few times more. A 6:5 payout on blackjack instead of 3:2 adds well over a percentage point. Try different decisions in the blackjack simulator.

Crypto originals. In-house games at crypto casinos usually set payouts for a 1% edge. Dice, for example, pays 99 divided by your win chance, so a 50% chance pays 1.98×. Our guide to provably fair games shows how those results are generated.

Slots. The paytable and reel weightings are designed by the provider to return a set percentage. Most online slots sit between 94% and 97% RTP, though some are lower.

Turning the edge into an expected loss

The most useful thing you can do with a house edge is multiply it by how much you plan to bet in total:

expected loss = turnover × house edge

Turnover is the total of all your bets, not your deposit. If you deposit $100 and keep re-betting your balance, you can easily wager $2,000 or more in a session, because the same money is bet again and again.

Turnover	0.5% edge	1% edge	2.70% edge	4% edge
$1,000	$5	$10	$27	$40
$10,000	$50	$100	$270	$400
$50,000	$250	$500	$1,350	$2,000

Expected loss = turnover × house edge. Your deposit size matters less than how many times you cycle it, and which game you cycle it on.

This is also how bonuses and rewards should be judged. A wagering requirement is a turnover figure, so multiplying it by the edge tells you the average cost of clearing it. Our wagering requirements guide works through a real example. Rakeback is paid as a share of the same expected loss, which is covered in what is rakeback.

Volatility is not the same as edge

Two games can have the same 1% edge and feel completely different. That difference is volatility (or variance): how widely results swing around the average.

• A 50% dice roll at 1.98× wins about half the time. Your balance moves slowly.
• A 1% dice roll at 99× wins about once in a hundred bets. You will see long losing runs, broken by a big win.

Both cost 1% of turnover on average. The high-volatility version just spreads that cost unevenly, so short sessions are far more likely to end well above or well below the expected result.

Plinko is the clearest example. Low, medium and high risk settings at the same casino usually share the same edge, but the high-risk board pays most of its value through rare, large multipliers. Compare them in the plinko simulator and watch how different the paths look for the same average.

Why volatility misleads people

A high-volatility game can hide its edge for a long time, or make it look far worse than it is. A lucky streak feels like proof that something works; a bad run feels like the game is broken. Neither tells you much. Only the edge tells you what the game costs per dollar over many bets.

What changes the edge, and what does not

Things that do change your edge

• Game choice. Moving from a 4% slot to a 1% original cuts the average cost of the same turnover by three quarters.
• Rules and paytables. Single-zero roulette over double-zero, 3:2 blackjack over 6:5, a 97% RTP slot version over a 94% one.
• Your decisions, in skill-based games. Blackjack strategy and, in some games, which bets you choose.
• Rakeback. It returns a share of the edge, so your effective edge becomes house edge × (1 − rakeback rate).

Things that do not

• Betting systems. Martingale and similar progressions rearrange wins and losses but never change the edge per bet. The Martingale calculator shows how the rare large loss balances the frequent small wins.
• Bet size. A bigger bet loses the same percentage on average, just more dollars.
• Timing, streaks or "hot" games. Each result is independent of the last.

How to use this before you play

1. Look up the edge or RTP of the game you actually plan to play.
2. Estimate your turnover for the session, not just your deposit.
3. Multiply the two. That is the average price of the session.
4. Decide whether that price is worth the entertainment, and set a loss limit you would be comfortable hitting.

The house edge is not a reason to chase a "beatable" game. Every standard casino game has a negative expected value for the player. Knowing the number simply lets you choose games and offers with your eyes open, and keep gambling as a cost you can afford rather than a plan to earn money.

FAQ