Every casino bet has a built-in cost — the house edge, the percentage of each wager the casino expects to keep over time. This calculator turns that abstract percentage into a real dollar figure for your session, so you can see exactly what a bet costs before you make it.
The house edge is the casino's mathematical advantage on a bet, expressed as a percentage of the amount you wager. A 1.41% edge means that, on average and over the long run, the casino keeps about $1.41 of every $100 you bet — and returns the rest. It is baked into the payouts and rules, so no betting system can erase it.
Crucially, the edge applies to total money wagered, not the cash in your pocket. You recycle the same bankroll bet after bet, so a few hours of play can put thousands of dollars "through" the table even if you only ever brought a couple hundred. That is why play time and bet size matter as much as the percentage itself.
The edge is also a long-run average, not a per-session promise. Variance — plain luck — dominates any single night. You might walk away up or down well beyond the expected figure. But the more decisions you make, the more reliably your results converge toward the math.
| Game | Bet | House Edge |
|---|---|---|
| Blackjack | Basic strategy | 0.50% |
| Baccarat | Banker | 1.06% |
| Baccarat | Player | 1.24% |
| Craps | Don't Pass | 1.36% |
| Craps | Pass Line | 1.41% |
| Craps | Place 6 or 8 | 1.52% |
| Roulette | European (single 0) | 2.70% |
| Craps | Field (2:1/3:1 on 2/12) | 2.78% |
| Roulette | American (00) | 5.26% |
| Baccarat | Tie | 14.36% |
| Craps | Any Seven | 16.67% |
Pick the game and bet you actually plan to play, then estimate your typical bet size, how many decisions you face per hour (60 is a reasonable default for a table game), and how long you'll play. The calculator multiplies those into your total action and applies the bet's edge to estimate your average loss. Lower the edge or the hours, and watch the expected cost drop — that's the whole game of stretching a bankroll.
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Anything under about 1.5% is excellent. Blackjack with basic strategy (0.5%), craps Pass Line (1.41%) and Don't Pass (1.36%), and baccarat Banker (1.06%) all qualify. An edge of 5% or more — like American roulette (5.26%) or craps Big 6 and Big 8 (9.09%) — eats your bankroll several times faster.
No. The house edge is a long-run average, not a guarantee for any single session. You can absolutely win in one night. But the more hands you play, the closer your results drift toward the expected loss, which is why the edge matters more the longer you sit at the table.
Among the bets in this calculator, blackjack played with basic strategy has the lowest edge at about 0.5%. Baccarat Banker (1.06%) and craps Don't Pass (1.36%) and Pass Line (1.41%) are close behind. The true 0% bet in a casino is the craps Odds bet, which can only be added behind a Pass or Don't Pass wager.
Expected loss = total amount wagered × house edge. Total wagered is your average bet multiplied by the number of decisions per hour and the hours you play. So a $25 bettor making 60 decisions an hour for 3 hours wagers $4,500, and at a 1.41% edge expects to lose about $63 on average.
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