All casino games have different odds. Some are good, like blackjack, whilst others are more in the casinos favour, like keno. In this article I explain about the odds that the various casino games have and how odds are calculated.

What are odds?
It’s as important to understand about odds when you are playing at a casino or poker table as it is when betting on sports. Odds are the mathematical probability of a certain event occurring and is usually expressed as a percentage or ratio. The simplest example would be in a coin toss which the outcome can either be heads or tails. In this situation the odds of getting heads is 50% or in betting terminology 2 to 1.

Now in the same way that a coin has 2 sides a roulette table has either 37 or 38 slots, depending on whether you are playing on a European or American table, and a deck of cards contains 52 cards. These numbers are used as a basis for calculating odds but obviously there are many more combinations of result in for example poker than there are in a simple coin toss.

Smart players know that there are strategic methods of playing casino games which give them a greater chance of winning. They also know the odds of certain events at any point in the game, this is especially important in games such as blackjack and poker, where the odds are constantly changing as more cards are dealt. Most importantly they know when the odds are so bad that the best policy is to fold or leave the table!

You would have to be very naïve if you didn’t realise that casinos are big business and the casino has the edge on every single game they run. This edge is called the house edge and is where the casino makes its money, for sure there are deviations where a high roller comes in and wins big but over time the casino will always make its money from this house edge.

In European roulette the house edge is 2.7%. This means that for every £100 you bet the casino will probably earn £2.70. You note that I don’t say it will definitely earn this as you could be very lucky or unlucky but on average and over time this is what they will earn. This may not sound like a lot of money for the casino but it is all about volume.

Lets explore the example of blackjack a little further. Let’s say that you are playing blackjack at £20 per hand and you play 150 hands. If you play the perfect strategy then the house edge in blackjack is 0.8%. 150 hands at £20 per hand is £3000 and your expected loss would be £24. This is what makes blackjack such a good game, the fact that with just a little bit of extra luck going your way you can win money.
Odds on all casino games

Game	House Edge
Craps	0.60%
Blackjack	0.80%
Baccarat (banker)	1.17%
Baccarat (player)	1.63%
Pai Gow Poker	2.5%
Roulette (European)	2.7%
Roulette (American)	5.6%
Three-Card Poker	3.4%
Let It Ride	3.5%
Caribbean Stud Poker	5.26%
Keno	25%

From the above table you can see that the games with the lowest house edge are Craps, Blackjack and Baccarat, but it should also be pointed out that these games also have relatively smaller pay outs, so whereas the house edge on Keno looks terrible the potential prize is also bigger. I would however always recommend that you focus on Craps, Blackjack and Baccarat, in fact with Blackjack there are methods to actually turn the odds of winning to your favour. There are articles on how to do this and maybe I will write one for here, but for the moment I would recommend that you learn the base strategy which most casinos are kind enough to list, then learn how to keep track of the cards which have been dealt and then you have to adjust the amount you bet based on the odds of you getting a good hand compared to the dealer. It’s tricky but well worth learning if you want to make some money from playing Blackjack.