While the casino’s advantage is something that can never be changed and will always exist both online and offline, you can get an “edge” yourself when playing casino games with the best odds.
You can’t actually gamble online and bypass the advantage of the casino, but what you can do is minimise it and use it in your favour. There are several games that have the best odds in a casino, and if you choose to play them and master them, you can have not just fun-filled gambling session but also productive ones.
Here’s all you need to know about the house edge, the highest payout casino games and how to win.
What Is the House Edge?
The house edge (aka the casino advantage) is the casino’s profit calculated as a percentage of the bets made by players. You need to think about it long-term.
The payout odds are not the real odds, and they are not the probability of getting a specific outcome. This is a percentage that’s calculated over a significant period, so in the short-term anything can happen. While you might win a round, other players will lose. So when taking the actions of every player over a vast amount of time, you will end up very close to the declared house edge.
Furthermore, the number of winning outcomes will be smaller than the one of losing outcomes. Statistically speaking, you have more chances of losing than winning over time.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the house edge was calculated in a specific way, with consistent gameplay and bets made on results with high probabilities. So when you place risky bets on outcomes that have a low probability, the winning odds will decrease. Consequently, it’s essential to know what to play and how to play it to get the best chance of winning at casino games.
Which Casino Games Have the Best Odds?
We can’t pick just one casino game with the best odds, so we settled for seven of them. Generally, it’s easier to win if you play casino games that have a level of skill involved, other than just luck. Also, making the right decisions based on probabilities rather than just hope, weird strategies and moxie.
Obviously, you can’t win every bet but what you can do is minimise risks, practice responsible gambling and make sure that your balance starts with + rather than -.
We’ve researched the best odds casino games and came up with a top 7 list of games that have the lowest house edge percentages, good payouts and the possibility of using different basic strategies:
- Pai Gow Poker
- French Roulette
- Baccarat
- Blackjack
- Craps
- Video Poker
- Slots
Pai Gow Poker
The casino game of Pai Gow generally has a house advantage of around 2.5%. This Chinese game is a sort of domino game, but it is played with a classic deck of 52 cards and a joker. To win, you must split the seven cards which are dealt to you and make the best 5-card hand and 2-card hand possible.
You play against the dealer and both your hands must be better than the dealer’s if just one of them is then the game is a tie.
The joker acts as a wild, and it will substitute for all other cards to complete a straight or a flush. If it doesn’t have this option, it will count as an Ace.
Since there are so many combinations and you also have to make sure that both your hands are better, there will be many tied games. The tied games guarantee the overall high RTP.
Pai Gow Poker is played similarly to other poker games in the sense that the rankings of combinations are the same (pair, two pair, three of a kind, four of a kind, flushes etc.), except for the strongest hand called “the wheel” which is Ace, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
The entire “trick” to winning this game is to make sure that your cards are evenly distributed, and both hands are as good as possible. You don’t get to see the dealer’s cards, but nor does he so no one is disadvantaged.
French Roulette
Among roulette games, French Roulette is the best option with a house edge that can be as low as 1.35%. You can also try European Roulette, but if you’re here for a list of casino games with the best odds, you’re better off staying away from American Roulette.
The wheel of French Roulette is the same as the one for European Roulette, with just one 0, and while standard inside and outside bets are the same, there are two particular types of wagers that make the French version better.
You have La Partage which means split, and when the ball falls on zero on an even chance bet, then you won’t lose everything and get to keep half. Also, you have En Prison where in the same situation the bet just remains on the table for the next spin, and if you win on the next round, you get the winnings from the payout table.
The rule which will apply depends on the best odds casino you choose as each online casino site decides which rules it follows.
Baccarat
In Baccarat games, the house edge goes as low as 1.06%. This one is one of the oldest and best slot games in the world and is known under many different names such as Punto Banco for example.
The game is played with just two hands (the dealer’s/banker’s and the player’s) no matter how many players there are. The winning hand is the one that has the closest to nine points.
There are three possible outcomes in Baccarat: either the banker wins, the player wins, or there’s a tie. The exciting thing about this casino game is that you can bet on all three outcomes. The house edge is the lowest on the banker but so are the payouts, and the best payouts are for the tie because it happens rarely.
Blackjack
With a casino advantage that can go as low as 0.72%, Blackjack is one of the most popular casino games. It requires skill and basic strategy, but if you play it right that less than 1% house edge can bring you great fun and nice real money wins.
The payouts of Blackjack, are generally identical no matter what variation you play or where you play it; Blackjack pays 3:2, and all other wins pay 1:1, except for insurance which pays 2:1.
Variations of this table game can have other differences, which for the sake of responsible gambling and creating a great strategy you need to check:
- The number of decks of cards with which the game is played
- Is the dealer obligated to hit on soft 17s?
- How many splits are allowed?
- How many cards are allowed after a split?
- Is splitting unlike 10s allowed?
- Is double down allowed after a split?
Craps
Craps is a dice game with a house edge which can be just 1.4% if you play it with a good strategy.
The game is based on the probabilities of possible combinations when making rolls with two dice. There are 36 dice combinations, and 7 is the highest probability result, with 16.67% odds. The least probable outcomes are 2 and 12, with 1/36 odds.
While at first glance it might seem super simple to play craps, keep in mind that there are a lot of different rules and bets possible from the pass line and don’t pass line to many others.
Start by learning the basics. For example, when you place a pass bet you will win if the come-out roll is a 7 or 11, and lose on 2, 3, and 12. While it may seem that it shouldn’t be hard since the 7 has the highest probability, all the other 24 of 36 combinations will set a point that you will need to hit in the following rolls to win. Getting 7 before getting the point will make you lose.
Video Poker
Calculating house edge for video poker is relatively complicated, as it is with slots because both these games have many different variations. While one video poker game can have super low odds, others can have an RTP in your favour.
You can find Jacks or Better variations with a house edge of 0.46%, but then again you can find versions that are not worth it.
Video poker is an interesting game because it’s a combination of a slot game and a poker game; a card game that you play on a machine.
You will be dealt five cards that appear face-up on the screen. You get to decide which of them to hold and which to discard and then you have to try to create the best five-card poker hand possible.
Slots
The odds of winning at slots significantly differ depending on what slot game you choose. While some have very low RTPs and high house edges (like progressive jackpots for example), others have 98-99% RTPs which vastly improve your odds.
Luckily, we have the best RTP slots list for you as well as the best ways to play them to improve your chances. There are many variations of the classic slot machine, and even things like paylines, ways to win, bonus features, bet sizes and volatility can influence the outcome.
The best way to ensure you’ve figured out which casino games have the best odds when it comes to slots is to try them as free slots in demo mode and practice until you’ve mastered all the technical stuff.
Other than that, it’s just luck. But if you pick the right games, you will rely less on luck and thus improve your chances altogether. Play smart, choose the casino games with the best odds when gambling online and offline.