European roulette keeps 2.70% of every bet and American roulette 5.26%; blackjack paying 6:5 instead of 3:2 adds about 1.4 percentage points; baccarat’s banker bet costs 1.06% and the tie 14.36%. The derivations are short enough to check by hand, and the table gives the figure per NZ$100 staked.
House edge by bet
Roulette: count the green
A single-zero wheel has 37 pockets and pays 35 to 1 on a straight number. The fair payout would be 36 to 1, so the edge is 1/37 = 2.70%. An American wheel adds a double zero: 2/38 = 5.26%. The edge is the same on every bet on the table, so the choice is the wheel, not the bet.
Blackjack: the payout on a natural
A natural blackjack is 21 on the first two cards. The chance a player gets one is about 4.73% (2 × 4/52 × 16/52). Paying 3:2 on it instead of 6:5 is a difference of 0.3 of the bet, so the extra edge is 0.3 × 4.73% ≈ 1.4 percentage points. That is more than most single rule changes cost, and it is printed on the table.
With a 3:2 payout and normal rules, correct basic strategy brings the edge to roughly half a percent; without strategy it is several times that. The edge depends on the rule set: check the table’s rules page.
Baccarat: three bets, very different prices
With eight decks, the banker bet wins slightly more often than the player bet, so casinos charge 5% commission on banker wins. The resulting edges are 1.06% on the banker, 1.24% on the player and 14.36% on the tie. The tie is the one that looks generous (8 to 1) and is not.
What it costs per NZ$100 staked
| Game and bet | House edge | Expected cost of NZ$100 bet |
|---|---|---|
| Baccarat, banker | 1.06% | NZ$1.06 |
| Baccarat, player | 1.24% | NZ$1.24 |
| Blackjack, 3:2, good strategy | about 0.5% | about NZ$0.50 |
| European roulette | 2.70% | NZ$2.70 |
| American roulette | 5.26% | NZ$5.26 |
| Blackjack, 6:5, good strategy | about 1.9% | about NZ$1.90 |
| Baccarat, tie | 14.36% | NZ$14.36 |
The edge applies to each bet, so speed matters: a table game with 60 rounds an hour at NZ$10 stakes NZ$600 an hour, and at 2.70% costs about NZ$16. Compare that with a pokie in cost per hour.
What the edge does not tell you
It is the long-run average. On a single evening the result is variance. It also says nothing about game weighting under a bonus: table games often count for a fraction of pokies, so the cheap edge does not help you clear wagering. See the wagering guide.
Questions readers ask
Which casino game has the lowest house edge?
Blackjack with good rules and correct strategy, and the baccarat banker bet, sit near the bottom; the exact figure depends on the rules at the table.
Does a betting system change the edge?
No. Every system changes how a loss is distributed over time, not the expected loss per dollar bet.