Casino Game Odds Comparison
Mega Joker Slot – 0.10% Mega Joker is an interesting addition by NetEnt. The game is a video slot. It’s pretty much the opposite of the PASS LINE and the casino odds are a measly 1.36 percent (That’s.04 percent better.). But remember everybody else at the table is probably going to be playing the PASS.
A number of things can influence changes in the odds, such as the amount of money in the market, the overall betting patterns of the public, events leading up to the game and the odds different. What Casino Game Has the Worst Odds? Odds of winning at casino slot machines varies from game to game. Some games have better odds than others. However, the general truth is that slots are some of the games with the worst odds. It really isn’t a surprise because you could win a lot of money on a single small bet on a slot game.
Of all the ways to lose money in life, gambling is probably the most enjoyable (at least up to a certain point).
When you walk through the doors of a casino, you do so knowing your net worth is probably going to be lower by the time you emerge back into the blinding sunlight, but at least you can get a few free drinks for your troubles.
However, if you want to maximize the number of watered down adult beverages you receive while gambling, it’s important to know which games to play in order to ensure you don’t burn through your funds any quicker than necessary.
In order to do that, you need the answer to one simple question: Which casino games have the best odds?
Here’s everything you need to know.
Games of Chance vs. Games of Skill
Casino games are a lot like cryptocurrencies: you have plenty of options when it comes to taking a risk with your money but there are certain ways to gain an edge if you actually know what you’re doing.
If you don’t want to rely on a computer algorithm, a rolling ball, or a random person tumbling dice, there are a few other places where you might feel right at home.
For the purpose of this article, I’m going to assume you aren’t Rain Man or someone who enjoys the adrenaline rush that comes with knowing you could be hauled into a backroom at any minute if you get caught counting cards.
If either of those labels apply to you, then I doubt you need much advice in the first place.
Casino Game Odds Comparison Calculator
Which Games Have The Worst Odds?
Before we address the best casino games to win money we should also examine the ones that rip you off the most.
Odds can vary from casino to casino and many of them actually have guides that can tell you which games will give you the best return on your investment. However, they’re a bit less likely to advertise which games are designed to screw you over more than others.
I’m more than happy to take on that burden.
3. Slots
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Casino Game Odds Comparison Charts
I know it can be tough to resist the urge of the flashing lights and the alluring gaze of Carrie Bradshaw radiating from The Sex and the City slot machine but you’re doing yourself a severe disservice if you don’t have the self-control required to not sit down.
Slot machines are great because you can sit there for hours on end while establishing a camaraderie with the person bringing you drinks, which the casino is more than happy to provide you with because you’re basically printing money for them.
Odds vary from machine to machine, but one analysis says the house edge can be upwards of 15%. That number will shrink as you play machines with larger betting amounts, but if you’re a penny slots diehard, you might want to rethink your fandom.
2. The Wheel Of Fortune
There’s a pretty small chance you’re ever going to find yourself standing next to Pat Sajak on a set in Los Angeles, so for most people, this game is the closest they’ll ever get to actually playing Wheel of Fortune.
However, unlike actual Wheel of Fortune contestants, you don’t get to walk away with a food dehydrator or a new set of flatware if you lose— and there’s a very good chance you’re going to.
If you’re brave enough to bet on higher amounts, you should do so knowing the casino has up to a 25% house edge. You’ll honestly probably have better luck if you just audition for the show.
1. Keno
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House Odds On Casino Games
I’m not sure why anyone would play Keno at a casino when you can just go to a sketchy bar or a bowling alley— not to mention that it’s just an objectively boring (and entirely random) game.
You can spice things up a bit if you want to play glorified bingo surrounded by AARP members instead of staring at a screen but you’re not doing yourself any favors either way. Opting for the former comes with a house advantage of up to 16% but that number can balloon to 30% when it comes to the virtual version.
Thankfully, there are more than a few other games you can hit up for the best odds in the casino.
Which Casino Games Have The Best Odds?
4. Roulette
When you consider roulette gives players the chance to basically bet on a coin flip, you’d think it would be one of the best games on the casino floor.
However, the inclusion of the green 0 and 00 actually gives the house a bigger advantage than you’d think. Unlike some other games, the odds never change, which means a casino will statistically have a 5.26% house edge.
There are a variety of different betting strategies that can theoretically increase your odds but there’s still a very good chance you’ll end up losing money in the long run even if you use them.
3. Craps
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There are a million different ways to bet on craps but if you’re new to the game you’re probably just going to want to bet on the Pass Line and yell “Seven!” a lot.
If you choose to adopt that strategy then the casino is looking at a house edge of 1.41%. Sadly, there’s no solid data on whether or not blowing on the dice before a roll impacts that number.
2. Blackjack
You may not have perfected the art of card counting at MIT but blackjack is still one of the best bets you can make at a casino.
Even if you’ve never played a single game of blackjack in your life you still have a pretty good chance of coming away with a winning hand as long as you know how to do simple addition.
If you did, in fact, go to elementary school, the house only has a .5% edge whenever the cards are dealt.
1. Video Poker
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Sure, video poker might not be as exciting as facing off against a guy rocking sunglasses inside with a pair of Beats over a pulled-up hoodie, but at least you don’t have to deal with the blow to your psyche if you end up losing to him.
If you can track down a Jacks or Better machine, you’re in a position to rake in more money than anywhere else in the casino.
Technically speaking, an inexperienced video poker player has the same shot at winning as a blackjack player does but there are a number of proven strategies that (if applied correctly) result in the house only having an advantage of .46%.
However, an expert at Deuces or Wild can theoretically gain a .7% edge on the casino, so if you happen to have some time on your hands, you might want to start studying up.
Introduction
The house edge is defined as the ratio of the average loss to the initial bet. In some games the beginning wager is not necessarily the ending wager. For example in blackjack, let it ride, and Caribbean stud poker, the player may increase their bet when the odds favor doing so. In these cases the additional money wagered is not figured into the denominator for the purpose of determining the house edge, thus increasing the measure of risk. For games like Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em and Crazy 4 Poker, where there are two required initial wagers, the house edge is based on one of them only. House edge figures are based on optimal or near-optimal player strategy.
The table below shows the house edge of most popular casino games and bets.
Casino Game House Edge
| Game | Bet/Rules | House Edge | Standard Deviation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baccarat | Banker | 1.06% | 0.93 |
| Player | 1.24% | 0.95 | |
| Tie | 14.36% | 2.64 | |
| Big Six | $1 | 11.11% | 0.99 |
| $2 | 16.67% | 1.34 | |
| $5 | 22.22% | 2.02 | |
| $10 | 18.52% | 2.88 | |
| $20 | 22.22% | 3.97 | |
| Joker/Logo | 24.07% | 5.35 | |
| Bonus Six | No insurance | 10.42% | 5.79 |
| With insurance | 23.83% | 6.51 | |
| Blackjacka | Liberal Vegas rules | 0.28% | 1.15 |
| Caribbean Stud Poker | 5.22% | 2.24 | |
| Casino War | Go to war on ties | 2.88% | 1.05 |
| Surrender on ties | 3.70% | 0.94 | |
| Bet on tie | 18.65% | 8.32 | |
| Catch a Wave | 0.50% | d | |
| Craps | Pass/Come | 1.41% | 1.00 |
| Don't pass/don't come | 1.36% | 0.99 | |
| Odds — 4 or 10 | 0.00% | 1.41 | |
| Odds — 5 or 9 | 0.00% | 1.22 | |
| Odds — 6 or 8 | 0.00% | 1.10 | |
| Field (2:1 on 12) | 5.56% | 1.08 | |
| Field (3:1 on 12) | 2.78% | 1.14 | |
| Any craps | 11.11% | 2.51 | |
| Big 6,8 | 9.09% | 1.00 | |
| Hard 4,10 | 11.11% | 2.51 | |
| Hard 6,8 | 9.09% | 2.87 | |
| Place 6,8 | 1.52% | 1.08 | |
| Place 5,9 | 4.00% | 1.18 | |
| Place 4,10 | 6.67% | 1.32 | |
| Place (to lose) 4,10 | 3.03% | 0.69 | |
| 2, 12, & all hard hops | 13.89% | 5.09 | |
| 3, 11, & all easy hops | 11.11% | 3.66 | |
| Any seven | 16.67% | 1.86 | |
| Crazy 4 Poker | Ante | 3.42%* | 3.13* |
| Double Down Stud | 2.67% | 2.97 | |
| Heads Up Hold 'Em | Blind pay table #1 (500-50-10-8-5) | 2.36% | 4.56 |
| Keno | 25%-29% | 1.30-46.04 | |
| Let it Ride | 3.51% | 5.17 | |
| Pai Gowc | 1.50% | 0.75 | |
| Pai Gow Pokerc | 1.46% | 0.75 | |
| Pick ’em Poker | 0% - 10% | 3.87 | |
| Red Dog | Six decks | 2.80% | 1.60 |
| Roulette | Single Zero | 2.70% | e |
| Double Zero | 5.26% | e | |
| Sic-Bo | 2.78%-33.33% | e | |
| Slot Machines | 2%-15%f | 8.74g | |
| Spanish 21 | Dealer hits soft 17 | 0.76% | d |
| Dealer stands on soft 17 | 0.40% | d | |
| Super Fun 21 | 0.94% | d | |
| Three Card Poker | Pairplus | 7.28% | 2.85 |
| Ante & play | 3.37% | 1.64 | |
| Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em | Ante | 2.19% | 4.94 |
| Video Poker | Jacks or Better (Full Pay) | 0.46% | 4.42 |
| Wild Hold ’em Fold ’em | 6.86% | d |
Notes
| a | Liberal Vegas Strip rules: Dealer stands on soft 17, player may double on any two cards, player may double after splitting, resplit aces, late surrender. |
| b | Las Vegas single deck rules are dealer hits on soft 17, player may double on any two cards, player may not double after splitting, one card to split aces, no surrender. |
| c | Assuming player plays the house way, playing one on one against dealer, and half of bets made are as banker. |
| d | Yet to be determined. |
| e | Standard deviation depends on bet made. |
| f | Slot machine range is based on available returns from a major manufacturer |
| g | Slot machine standard deviation based on just one machine. While this can vary, the standard deviation on slot machines are very high. |
Guide to House Edge
The reason that the house edge is relative to the original wager, not the average wager, is that it makes it easier for the player to estimate how much they will lose. For example if a player knows the house edge in blackjack is 0.6% he can assume that for every $10 wager original wager he makes he will lose 6 cents on the average. Most players are not going to know how much their average wager will be in games like blackjack relative to the original wager, thus any statistic based on the average wager would be difficult to apply to real life questions.
The conventional definition can be helpful for players determine how much it will cost them to play, given the information they already know. However the statistic is very biased as a measure of risk. In Caribbean stud poker, for example, the house edge is 5.22%, which is close to that of double zero roulette at 5.26%. However the ratio of average money lost to average money wagered in Caribbean stud is only 2.56%. The player only looking at the house edge may be indifferent between roulette and Caribbean stud poker, based only the house edge. If one wants to compare one game against another I believe it is better to look at the ratio of money lost to money wagered, which would show Caribbean stud poker to be a much better gamble than roulette.
Many other sources do not count ties in the house edge calculation, especially for the Don’t Pass bet in craps and the banker and player bets in baccarat. The rationale is that if a bet isn’t resolved then it should be ignored. I personally opt to include ties although I respect the other definition.
Element of Risk
For purposes of comparing one game to another I would like to propose a different measurement of risk, which I call the 'element of risk.' This measurement is defined as the average loss divided by total money bet. For bets in which the initial bet is always the final bet there would be no difference between this statistic and the house edge. Bets in which there is a difference are listed below.
Element of Risk
| Game | Bet | House Edge | Element of Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackjack | Atlantic City rules | 0.43% | 0.38% |
| Bonus 6 | No insurance | 10.42% | 5.41% |
| Bonus 6 | With insurance | 23.83% | 6.42% |
| Caribbean Stud Poker | 5.22% | 2.56% | |
| Casino War | Go to war on ties | 2.88% | 2.68% |
| Crazy 4 Poker | Standard rules | 3.42%* | 1.09% |
| Heads Up Hold 'Em | Pay Table #1 (500-50-10-8-5) | 2.36% | 0.64% |
| Double Down Stud | 2.67% | 2.13% | |
| Let it Ride | 3.51% | 2.85% | |
| Spanish 21 | Dealer hits soft 17 | 0.76% | 0.65% |
| Spanish 21 | Dealer stands on soft 17 | 0.40% | 0.30% |
| Three Card Poker | Ante & play | 3.37% | 2.01% |
| Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em | 2.19%* | 0.53% | |
| Wild Hold ’em Fold ’em | 6.86% | 3.23% |
Standard Deviation
The standard deviation is a measure of how volatile your bankroll will be playing a given game. This statistic is commonly used to calculate the probability that the end result of a session of a defined number of bets will be within certain bounds.
The standard deviation of the final result over n bets is the product of the standard deviation for one bet (see table) and the square root of the number of initial bets made in the session. This assumes that all bets made are of equal size. The probability that the session outcome will be within one standard deviation is 68.26%. The probability that the session outcome will be within two standard deviations is 95.46%. The probability that the session outcome will be within three standard deviations is 99.74%. The following table shows the probability that a session outcome will come within various numbers of standard deviations.
I realize that this explanation may not make much sense to someone who is not well versed in the basics of statistics. If this is the case I would recommend enriching yourself with a good introductory statistics book.
Standard Deviation
| Number | Probability |
|---|---|
| 0.25 | 0.1974 |
| 0.50 | 0.3830 |
| 0.75 | 0.5468 |
| 1.00 | 0.6826 |
| 1.25 | 0.7888 |
| 1.50 | 0.8664 |
| 1.75 | 0.9198 |
| 2.00 | 0.9546 |
| 2.25 | 0.9756 |
| 2.50 | 0.9876 |
| 2.75 | 0.9940 |
| 3.00 | 0.9974 |
| 3.25 | 0.9988 |
| 3.50 | 0.9996 |
| 3.75 | 0.9998 |
Hold
Although I do not mention hold percentages on my site the term is worth defining because it comes up a lot. The hold percentage is the ratio of chips the casino keeps to the total chips sold. This is generally measured over an entire shift. For example if blackjack table x takes in $1000 in the drop box and of the $1000 in chips sold the table keeps $300 of them (players walked away with the other $700) then the game's hold is 30%. If every player loses their entire purchase of chips then the hold will be 100%. It is possible for the hold to exceed 100% if players carry to the table chips purchased at another table. A mathematician alone can not determine the hold because it depends on how long the player will sit at the table and the same money circulates back and forth. There is a lot of confusion between the house edge and hold, especially among casino personnel.
Hands per Hour, House Edge for Comp Purposes
The following table shows the average hands per hour and the house edge for comp purposes various games. The house edge figures are higher than those above, because the above figures assume optimal strategy, and those below reflect player errors and average type of bet made. This table was given to me anonymously by an executive with a major Strip casino and is used for rating players.
Best Odds In Casino Game
Hands per Hour and Average House Edge
| Games | Hands/Hour | House Edge |
|---|---|---|
| Baccarat | 72 | 1.2% |
| Blackjack | 70 | 0.75% |
| Big Six | 10 | 15.53% |
| Craps | 48 | 1.58% |
| Car. Stud | 50 | 1.46% |
| Let It Ride | 52 | 2.4% |
| Mini-Baccarat | 72 | 1.2% |
| Midi-Baccarat | 72 | 1.2% |
| Pai Gow | 30 | 1.65% |
| Pai Pow Poker | 34 | 1.96% |
| Roulette | 38 | 5.26% |
| Single 0 Roulette | 35 | 2.59% |
| Casino War | 65 | 2.87% |
| Spanish 21 | 75 | 2.2% |
| Sic Bo | 45 | 8% |
| 3 Way Action | 70 | 2.2% |
Footnotes
* — House edge based on Ante bet only as opposed to all mandatory wagers (for example the Blind in Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em and the Super Bonus in Crazy 4 Poker.
Translation
Odds Of Casino Games
A Spanish translation of this page is available at www.eldropbox.com.
Written by: Michael Shackleford