House Edge by Game: What Slots, Blackjack, Roulette, Craps and Baccarat Actually Cost Per $100 Wagered
A baccarat tie bet carries a 14.36% house edge. A blackjack hand played with basic strategy carries roughly 0.40%. That's a 35 fold gap between two bets sitting on the same felt. House edge is the one number that makes bets across completely different games comparable, and most of what gets called "odds" in casual conversation isn't actually that number. Concept: What House Edge Actually Measures House edge is the casino's expected share of every dollar wagered over a large number of bets, not the probability of losing a single hand or spin. A game can have a high probability of winning individual rounds and still carry a meaningful house edge, because the size of the payout on a win matters as much as how often a win happens. Roulette's single number bet wins only 2.7% of the time on a European wheel, yet the house edge is a comparatively low 2.70%, because the payout on that rare win, 35 to 1, is calibrated close to fair odds. A coin flip proposition that...