actfap

House Edge, RTP and What Casino Games Actually Cost You

7 min read · updated 2 September 2026

The house edge is the share of every bet a casino keeps on average over the long run. A 1% edge means that for every 100 you wager — not deposit, wager — you lose 1 on average. It is fixed by the rules of the game, it applies to total turnover rather than your buy-in, and no betting pattern changes it.

Understanding how the edge translates into real money is the difference between a cheap evening and an expensive one, because the same amount of time at the same stake can cost ten times as much depending on the game.

House edge, RTP and hold

House edge and return to player (RTP) are two sides of one number: a 96% RTP slot has a 4% house edge. RTP is the common term for machines, house edge for table games, but they describe the same long-run split.

Hold is different — it is the casino's actual retained percentage of what players brought to the table on a given day, which is inflated by players rebetting their winnings. Hold is usually much higher than the house edge, and that gap is the key to how the edge really works.

Edge times turnover

What drains a bankroll is the house edge multiplied by everything you wager, and total turnover in a session is many times your buy-in because you keep rebetting. A 200 buy-in on a game where you cycle through it ten times generates 2,000 of turnover; a 2% edge on that is an expected 40 loss, not 4.

Turnover is decisions per hour times average bet. A blackjack player seeing 80 hands an hour and a slots player spinning 600 times an hour at a tenth of the stake are wagering similar amounts per hour — but if the slot's edge is ten times higher, it costs ten times as much.

Cheapest and most expensive bets

The lowest edges are blackjack with correct basic strategy (around 0.5%), certain video poker pay tables (9/6 Jacks or Better is about 0.46%), baccarat banker (1.06%) and craps pass or don't-pass backed with odds (well under 1% combined).

The most expensive are proposition and one-roll bets: the tie in baccarat (about 14.4%), any-seven in craps (about 16.9%), the big six wheel (often 11–24%) and keno (25% or more). American roulette at 5.26% and tight slots at 10% or more sit in between.

  • Blackjack, basic strategy — about 0.5%
  • Baccarat banker — 1.06%
  • European roulette — 2.70%
  • American roulette — 5.26%
  • Slots — typically 4–10%
  • Keno — 25% or more

Variance still decides your night

The house edge is a long-run average. Over a few hours, variance dominates: you can easily walk out well ahead or well behind what the edge predicts. The edge only shows up reliably over tens of thousands of bets — which is exactly why the casino, which sees that volume, always wins in aggregate and you might not on any given visit.

FAQ

Which casino game has the best odds?
Blackjack with correct basic strategy and full-pay video poker have the lowest house edges, both around half a percent. Baccarat banker and craps with odds are the next best.
Does a higher RTP mean I will win more?
It means you lose less on average over a very long run. In a single session variance dominates, so a 96% game and a 94% game can easily produce the opposite of what their RTP suggests.
Can I reduce the house edge with a betting system?
No. As long as each individual bet is negative expectation, every combination of those bets is too. Systems only change how the fixed expected loss is spread across time.

Try it