In the context of gambling, the house edge is the percentage of money a casino keeps after paying out its players for successful bets.
The house edge can be thought of as the casino’s profit margin. It is how online casinos and land-based gaming venues make their money. The house edge varies from casino to casino, from game to game, and from machine to machine.
The house edge is also sometimes called the casino advantage.
Why Is a House Edge Needed?
The main function of a house edge is to provide the casino with a profit margin. Every gambling venue needs to make money in order to pay its staff and maintain its facilities.
When compared to other types of entertainment services, regulated casinos and online gaming venues have some of the lowest profit margins in relation to their total income. Casino profit margins typically range from 0.35% to about 4%, depending on the exact game and bet. For example, a typical full-pay Jacks or Better video poker machine has a 99.54% payout percentage.
What allows successful casinos to gain a good profit is not the size of their margin, but the size of the overall income.
Which Games Have the Lowest House Edge?
The exact size of a gambling venue’s house edge depends not only on the game, but also on the exact bet a gambler chooses to make. For example, despite the fact that craps is generally seen as one of the fairest casino games you can play, certain craps bets have a relatively high casino advantage.
There are the top 7 casino games with the lowest margins:
- Baccarat
- Blackjack
- Craps
- Video poker.
- Slot machines
- European wheel roulette
House edge:
- The percentage of money that a gambling venue keeps after paying out its players.
