Casino maths
Every casino bet has a price. We compute it exactly.
On a European roulette wheel the casino keeps 2.70% of every stake on average; on an American wheel, 5.26%. The baccarat banker bet costs 1.06%, the tie bet 14.36%. We enumerate every pocket, every roll and every deal, so you can see the real price of each bet, and how we got it.
- Exact odds, not estimates
- No real-money play
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The cheapest bets in the casino
| Bet | Game | House edge | Average loss per 100 staked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackjack, basic strategy (3:2, dealer stands on soft 17) | Blackjack | 0.57% | 0.57 |
| Baccarat, banker bet (5% commission) | Baccarat | 1.06% | 1.06 |
| Baccarat, player bet | Baccarat | 1.24% | 1.24 |
| Roulette, French even-money bet with la partage | Roulette | 1.35% | 1.35 |
| Craps, don't pass (12 is a push) | Craps | 1.36% | 1.36 |
Blackjack
The basic strategy chart, the dealer's bust odds and what each rule costs you.
Roulette
Every bet on European, French, American and triple-zero wheels.
Baccarat
Banker, player and tie, from every deal of an eight-deck shoe.
Craps
From the pass line and free odds to the one-roll bets.
What the house edge means
The house edge is the share of each stake that a casino keeps on average over many bets. A bet with a house edge of one per cent loses one unit per hundred staked in the long run, not on every bet: over a short session you can be well ahead or well behind. No betting system changes that average, because every bet in the sequence carries the same edge. What you can choose is the price: the gap between the cheapest and the dearest bets in the same casino is wide.
We do not host games or take bets. If gambling is causing you problems, free help is available.
Know the price before you play
Enter your stake, the number of bets and the game: the calculator shows what you should expect to lose, and how far one session can swing.
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