House Edge

A casino players mean earnings from a wager is referred to as the house edge. For instance it is around 5% in roulette, implying that for each dollar bet, 5¢ is retained by the casino as its turnover and the other 95¢ is awarded to the players as the prize money. Though the figure retained by the casino would appear small for one game, it builds up to significant figures as one continues playing many games.

For a single placement of one dollar it is not a guarantee of earning precisely 95¢. Winning more dollars or loosing that single dollar is the only two possible outcomes. The house edge looks at the bigger picture by assessing the joint total gamble vis-à-vis the profit retained by the casino on a particular day. Click here to find out which casino games have the lowest house edges.

Do casinos loose out?

At the end of the day the casinos will never lose. This is brought out by the fact that the more one plays the nearer he draws towards the house edge. The house edge highlights the extent to which the casino will win on a normal situation and it stands at 5.26%.

This figure is not a true reflection of what will happen at the casino as there are bound to be deviations. However, the mean total of bets versus players for the year will tend to be very close to 5.26%.

In brief, the house edge operates on such assumptions. The casino will not give you the true picture of your chances of winning but rather, will entice you to keep playing with full knowledge that they will gain from you more by the end of your stay, because the more you play the more the house edge gains.

The house edge comes in diverse forms. Below is the house edge of some of the most played games at the casino.

The rule of the game is that if you don't follow the correct tactic, the stakes are more advanced on the house edge. For a new blackjack player, he is limited to around 2% and not the 0.5% that they display on the table. A player of craps on the other hand contends with a house edge that is greater than 0.8%. Other games for instance roulette and slot machines have the same odds regardless of how one plays them. Crash Course in Table games will give a detailed outlook on this.

Complex games, such as craps, video poker and blackjack have attractive stakes since they have the smallest house edge. On the contrary simple games such as keno, the lottery and slot machines have the largest house edge. People rush for these simple games as they are enticed with the huge prize money on offer.