Understanding the casino house edge
Casinos have an advantage. Some argue that casinos win in the long run. Learn and understand the facts of casino house edge once and for all here.
Understanding the casino house edge
Like any business, casinos have a way of sustaining themselves. It is no surprise that casinos have built-in advantages in their games. When casinos beat players, it is because there are circumstances when odds are stacked against the favor of the players. This is called the house edge.
The house edge is present in all casinos. Whether you play in land-based casinos or play live casino games, a house edge always exists. The key to beating it is to understand it comprehensively.
Though there are several ways to ensure increased bankroll such as crypto gambling, no one is immune from the effects of the house edge. When translated in numbers, house edge refers to the percentage of the player’s bet that the casino collects as a profit over time.
For instance, roulette has a house edge of about 5%. On average, this means that for every dollar bet, 5¢ is kept as a profit. The casino returns the other 95¢ to the players as winnings. However, this just applies to fiat currencies. When you play on a bitcoin casino like Gamdom, winnings are significantly higher.
Whether you play crypto games or classic games in land-based casinos, the house edge works the same. The main aim of the house edge is to see what the average loss is. For example, if all roulette players in a casino collectively gamble $1 million in a day, the casino expects to pay back around $950,000 as winnings. $50,000 is then kept as profit.
How house edge works
Everyone knows that the casino wins in the long run. However, the house edge informs us how much the casino wins on average. The longer you play, the closer that the number of your losses will get to the house edge.
The actual house edge of American roulette is 5.26%. According to the math, anything could happen between 1 and 100 times that you play. Even if you might be ahead after 100 rounds, the more rounds you play, the more likely you will still lose.
After 1,000 rounds, you will certainly be behind. Your loss will be close to the 5.26% house edge after 100,000 rounds. In short, the casino doesn’t have to beat the player every single time. The casino is simply certain that they will win around 5.26% of total roulette bets placed in a year.
Another example is the Random Number Generator in poker. It is programmed to select the combinations of symbols randomly when you play. In a five-reel slot with 35 possible stops on each reel, there are 52,521,875 possible stop combinations. The Random Number Generator is designed to render more losses than wins.
The casino doesn’t need to win against you via unappealing odds. They give you an almost even game and make only a few percent on each bet on average. This is the reason why they do not have to cheat. They have a mathematical advantage that is built in every game, rendering cheating pointless.
Casinos only have to make you play and they are sure to win in the long run.
The grind
In the instance that the casino only takes 5.26% roulette profit, why do most players lose 100%? The answer is that the house edge applies to the amount you bet, not the amount you take to the casino.
For example, you play roulette with $100 and you bet $5 per spin at 30 spins an hour. You are actually betting around $150 an hour even though you only have $100 in the first place. As you continue to play, you win some rounds. At this point, some of your bets are from your winnings and not from the amount you initially had.
In an instance where you play for 13 hours, you would have bet a total of $1,950. 5% of $1,950 is $97.50 which is almost your full $100.
Such an effect of the house edge of slowly reducing your bankroll while you constantly bet again is called the grind. In order to lessen it, you should play games with a lower house edge and practice playing for short periods of time.
House edge of casino games
The house edge varies from game to game. Here’s a list of the house edges of the most popular casino games.
| House Edge of Casino Games | ||
| Game | House Edge (with proper play) | Maximum Payoff per unit bet |
| Blackjack | 0.5% | 1.5 to 1 |
| Craps (1x odds) | 0.8% | 2 to 1 |
| Video Poker | 0.5% to 5% | 800 to 1 |
| Baccarat | 1.06% | 1 to 1 |
| Roulette | 5.5% | 35 to 1 |
| Slot machines (flat top) | 0% to 17% | 5,000 to 1 |
| Slot machines (prrogressive) | 5% to 17% | millions to 1 |
| Keno | 25%+ | thousands to 1 |
If you are not able to play properly, the house edge will even be higher. Usually, a blackjack player plays at around a 2%-3% disadvantage, and not at the 0.5% listed in the table which only applies to a player using basic strategy.
A craps player who is not able to make good bets faces a house edge higher than 0.8%. Similarly, a video poker player who is carelessly guessing rather than using a strategy gets poor odds. However, this does not apply to games that have no strategies like roulette and slot machines. You get the same odds in these games no matter how you play.
The more difficult it is to master a game, the better the odds are for that game. It takes effort and an amount of time to learn how to play blackjack, craps, or video poker properly. However, they have the lowest house edge.
Simpler games like slot machines and keno have the highest house edge. However, they have the biggest jackpots. This is the reason why they remain to be the most popular games among players.
Importance of house edge
House edge is important because it’s one of the variables that dictate a player’s average loss. However, it is important to remember that this is not the only way.
It is a common mistake to consider the house edge as the primary factor for average loss. This is not the case since your loss depends on several factors, such as average bet size, play speed (rounds per hour), and total hours played. The formula for average loss is as follows:
House edge x Amount bet per round x Number of rounds per hour x Number of hours played
Solely focusing on the house edge may lead you to have wrong judgments regarding certain games. You might think that the lottery is a poor deal, when in reality, the most you can lose on a single lotto ticket is $1 or 2.
Playing despite the house edge
At some point in time, one might wonder as a player why one should play at all if the house edge has the advantage. The answer to this is that even if the odds are stacked against you, it is still possible to win. Like mentioned earlier, it is ideal to play in short periods of time, and anything can happen in the short term.
Gambling is also a form of cheap entertainment, such as playing on Bitcoin casino. A blackjack player that uses a strategy at a $5 bet only loses $2.50 an hour.
Online versus offline
The overall house edge is relatively better for casino players on the Internet. This is because there are variations of games with favourable house rules. This is especially evident in blackjack titles. Slot machine fans also find a wider variety of titles with excellent payouts on online casinos.
Another factor is that online players, such as those who play crypto games, have access to hundreds of sites. This makes it easy for them to look around for the best games with the lowest house edge.
Beginners are often likely to have an easier time winning online. There is less pressure since you’re on the Internet and you can refer to game and strategy guides while you play. You can reduce the house edge of various games by taking advantage of bonuses, promotions, and loyalty programs that online casinos offer.
The house edge is usually expressed as a return to player percentage or RTP. It tells you the percentage of real money wagers that will be returned to players in the form of winnings. For instance, if you encounter a game with 97.5% RTP, simply subtract this from 100 to calculate the house edge. In this case, it’s 2.5%
You should always remember that the numbers that house edge/RTP represents is the reflection of the long-term picture. It is not representative of your individual returns.
In land-based casinos, you can ask a member of the staff for a brochure that explains the rules, odds, and house edge. For online casino players, the RTP is usually listed on the details of the game you’re playing.
Play casino games on Gamdom, the best bitcoin casino site
Words: Hunny Laurente
