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Casino House Edge & RTP by Game (2026)
Every casino game is priced against you, but not equally. With perfect strategy, blackjack and full-pay video poker take about $0.50 of every $100 you bet — a house edge near 0.5%. American roulette takes $5.26, more than ten times as much, and keno can take $20–$35. Knowing the house edge (and its mirror image, RTP) for each game is the single most useful number in a casino: it tells you, on average, how fast your money disappears. Here is the full game-by-game breakdown for 2026, lowest edge to highest.
House edge by game at a glance
- Lowest edge: video poker (9/6 Jacks or Better) ~0.46% and blackjack (basic strategy) ~0.5% — RTP near 99.5%.
- Baccarat banker bet: 1.06% — the lowest house edge of any standard one-bet wager.
- European roulette 2.70% vs American roulette 5.26% — the extra "00" nearly doubles the edge.
- Slots: 2%–15% (RTP 85%–98%), averaging roughly 4%–10% — the widest range of any game.
- Worst bets: keno (20%–35%), the big six wheel (11%–24%) and the baccarat tie (~14.4%).
- RTP and house edge are two sides of one coin: RTP = 100% − house edge.
What are house edge and RTP?
The house edge is the percentage of each bet the casino expects to keep over the long run. The return to player (RTP), or payback percentage, is simply what comes back to you — the two always add to 100%. A game with a 5% house edge has a 95% RTP: for every $100 wagered, the casino keeps about $5 and returns about $95 over millions of bets.
House edge vs. RTP: house edge is the casino's cut per bet; RTP is the player's return. RTP = 100% − house edge. Both are long-run averages over millions of plays, not a promise about any single session — over one night, variance can swing you far above or below the figure. They are also calculated per bet wagered, so re-betting your winnings exposes the same money to the edge again and again.
Two important caveats. First, for games of skill like blackjack and video poker, the published edge assumes optimal strategy — play worse and the real edge against you climbs. Second, the edge depends on the specific rules and pay table: a blackjack game that pays 6:5 instead of 3:2, or a "short-pay" video poker machine, can quietly multiply the house edge.
Which casino games have the lowest house edge?
Ranked from the best odds for the player to the worst, here is the typical house edge and RTP for the main casino games, with how much you lose on average per $100 wagered.
| Game (best rules / strategy) | House edge | RTP | Lose per $100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video poker — 9/6 Jacks or Better (optimal) | ~0.46% | ~99.54% | ~$0.46 |
| Blackjack — basic strategy, good rules | ~0.5% | ~99.5% | ~$0.50 |
| Baccarat — banker bet | 1.06% | 98.94% | ~$1.06 |
| Craps — pass line / come | 1.41% | 98.59% | ~$1.41 |
| Baccarat — player bet | 1.24% | 98.76% | ~$1.24 |
| Roulette — European (single zero) | 2.70% | 97.30% | ~$2.70 |
| Three Card Poker — ante & play | ~3.4% | ~96.6% | ~$3.37 |
| Caribbean Stud Poker | ~5.2% | ~94.8% | ~$5.22 |
| Roulette — American (double zero) | 5.26% | 94.74% | ~$5.26 |
| Slot machines | 2%–15% | 85%–98% | ~$2–$15 |
| Big six / wheel of fortune | 11%–24% | 76%–89% | ~$11–$24 |
| Baccarat — tie bet | ~14.4% | ~85.6% | ~$14.40 |
| Keno | 20%–35% | 65%–80% | ~$20–$35 |
The spread is enormous: the player loses roughly 75 times more per bet on keno than on optimal blackjack. For how those losses add up across whole countries, see our gambling losses by country data, and for why the math guarantees the casino a profit at all, our guide on how much money casinos make.
Why are blackjack and video poker the best bets?
Blackjack and video poker are the only common casino games where skill changes the math. In blackjack, following basic strategy — the mathematically correct hit/stand/double/split for every hand — pulls the house edge down to about 0.5% under common rules. In video poker, holding the statistically best cards on a full-pay 9/6 Jacks or Better machine gives an RTP of about 99.54%, and some full-pay Deuces Wild games edge above 99.7%.
House edge compared (lower is better for the player)
Typical house edge under common rules / optimal strategy. Skill games (blackjack, video poker) assume correct play; the edge is higher for casual players. Source: Wizard of Odds, Casino.org.
The catch is that the advertised edge only holds with perfect play, and casinos increasingly weaken the rules — 6:5 blackjack payouts instead of 3:2, or short-pay video poker tables — which can push the real edge several times higher without changing the look of the game.
Roulette: why is European so much better than American?
Roulette is the clearest example of how one rule sets the price. European (single-zero) roulette has a 2.70% house edge; American (double-zero) roulette has 5.26% — almost double, for the same bets. The only difference is the extra green "00" pocket on the American wheel, which adds one more way to lose without changing the payouts.
The math: on an American wheel, a $1 even-money bet wins 18 times and loses 20 times out of 38, for an expected value of (18/38) × (+$1) + (20/38) × (−$1) = −$0.053 per dollar — the 5.26% edge. If you can find a single-zero wheel (common in Europe and at higher-limit tables), and especially one with la partage or en prison rules, the edge on even-money bets can fall to about 1.35%.
Baccarat and craps — which bets are best?
Both games hide great bets next to terrible ones. In baccarat, the banker bet (1.06%) is the single lowest-edge bet on a standard casino floor; the player bet (1.24%) is close behind; but the tie bet (~14.4%) is one of the worst wagers in the building. Always bet banker or player, never tie.
In craps, the pass line and come bets (1.41%) and don't-pass/don't-come (1.36%) are strong, and the game has a unique feature: the "odds" bet behind a line bet pays at true odds with a zero house edge. Backing a 1.41% pass line with full odds can drag your effective edge well under 1% — among the best value in any casino. The trap is the centre of the table: proposition and "any seven" bets carry edges of 11% to 16.7%.
Which games have the worst odds?
The fastest ways to lose money are keno (20%–35% house edge), the big six / wheel of fortune (11%–24%), and side bets like the baccarat tie (~14.4%) or craps proposition bets. Slot machines sit in a wide band of 2%–15%, but because the RTP is buried in the software you usually cannot see it — and slots take far more bets per hour than any table game, which is why they generate 65–70% of US casino revenue despite a middling edge.
Edge isn't the whole story — speed is. A low house edge means little if you bet fast. Slots have a moderate edge but run hundreds of spins an hour, so they drain a bankroll faster than roulette. How much you lose depends on edge × stake × how many bets you make per hour.
How much do you actually lose per hour?
Your expected loss is house edge × average bet × bets per hour. That is why slots, despite a moderate edge, are the most expensive games to play — they pack in the most bets. Here is roughly what an average session costs at common stakes:
| Game | House edge | Bets/hour | Avg bet | Est. loss/hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackjack (basic strategy) | 0.5% | ~70 | $10 | ~$3.50 |
| Roulette (European) | 2.70% | ~40 | $10 | ~$11 |
| Roulette (American) | 5.26% | ~40 | $10 | ~$21 |
| Slot machines | ~8% | ~600 | $1 | ~$48 |
The slot player and the blackjack player both wager about the same idea of "$10 a go," yet the slot session costs roughly fourteen times more per hour — entirely because of bet speed. Where any of this is legal and how machines are regulated varies by jurisdiction; see our gambling laws by country guide.
Frequently asked questions
What casino game has the lowest house edge?
Full-pay video poker (9/6 Jacks or Better) at about 0.46% and blackjack with basic strategy at about 0.5% have the lowest house edge, both giving an RTP near 99.5%. Among one-bet games, the baccarat banker bet (1.06%) is the lowest.
What is the difference between house edge and RTP?
They are two sides of the same number: house edge is the share of each bet the casino keeps, and RTP (return to player) is what comes back. RTP = 100% minus the house edge, so a 5% house edge means a 95% RTP.
Is European or American roulette better?
European roulette is much better for the player: its house edge is 2.70% versus 5.26% for American roulette. The difference is the extra "00" pocket on the American wheel, which nearly doubles the edge for the same bets.
What is the house edge on slot machines?
Slot house edge typically ranges from about 2% to 15% (RTP of 85% to 98%), averaging roughly 4% to 10%. It is set in the software and usually not displayed, and online slots often have higher RTP than land-based machines.
Which casino game has the worst odds?
Keno has the worst odds, with a house edge of about 20% to 35%. Other poor bets include the big six wheel (11% to 24%), the baccarat tie bet (about 14.4%) and craps proposition bets.
How much do you lose per hour gambling?
Expected loss equals house edge times average bet times bets per hour. At $10 a bet, basic-strategy blackjack costs about $3.50 an hour, European roulette about $11, and American roulette about $21; a $1 slot at ~8% edge and 600 spins an hour costs roughly $48 — bet speed matters as much as the edge.
Sources
- Wizard of Odds — House Edge of Casino Games Compared
- Casino.org — Casino House Edge Explained
- VegasInsider — What Is House Edge and RTP?
- American Casino Guide — House Edge: 8 Lowest House Edge Casino Games
- UNLV Center for Gaming Research — Beat the House: House Edge of Casino Games
- Wikipedia — Casino game (house advantage by game)
- Wikipedia — Gambling mathematics (house edge, expected value)