Which Casino Game Has the Lowest House Edge?
Updated
Blackjack, and it is not close — as long as you play it properly. That caveat is the entire point of this page, because a blackjack player who never takes a card that could bust them is getting a worse deal than a roulette player.
- Blackjack with basic strategy: 0.46%. Cheapest bet on the floor.
- Craps pass line: 1.41%. Baccarat banker: 1.06%.
- Roulette: 2.70% single zero, 5.26% double zero.
- Blackjack played badly: 3.49% — worse than any roulette wheel.
The comparison
House edge is the share of everything you stake that the casino keeps on average. Lower is better. The blackjack figures are ours; roulette and craps are closed-form calculations you can check by hand.
| Game and bet | House edge | Lost per $100 staked |
|---|---|---|
| Blackjack, basic | 0.46% | $0.46 |
| Baccarat, banker | 1.06% | $1.06 |
| Baccarat, player | 1.24% | $1.24 |
| Craps, pass line | 1.41% | $1.41 |
| Blackjack, 6:5 table | 1.82% | $1.82 |
| Roulette, single zero | 2.70% | $2.70 |
| Blackjack, never busting | 3.49% | $3.49 |
| Roulette, double zero | 5.26% | $5.26 |
Where each number comes from
Roulette is the simplest calculation in the casino. On a double-zero wheel every bet pays as though there were 36 numbers while 38 exist, so the house keeps 2/38 = 5.26%. Single zero: 1/37 = 2.70%. That is the whole derivation.
Craps pass line wins 244 times in 495, giving 1.41%.
Blackjack is the only one that needs real computation, because the answer depends on how the player plays. Our method is documented.
The catch nobody mentions
Every ranking like this one quietly assumes optimal play, which for roulette is trivial and for blackjack is not. Roulette has no decisions, so its edge is the same for everyone. Blackjack’s edge ranges from 0.46% to well over 2% depending entirely on the person holding the cards.
So the honest version of “blackjack has the lowest house edge” is: blackjack offers the lowest house edge available, to players willing to learn a chart. To everyone else it is a middling game with better theater.
And you still lose
0.46% is small, and it is not zero. Over a long enough stretch it takes everything you put through the table. The reason to prefer a low-edge game is that your money lasts longer and buys more hours, not that you will end up ahead. We wrote that out properly.
Keep reading
By Martin Kosek · every number on this site is computed by us, not copied.
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