What Does House Edge Mean?

16.09.2025
The House Edge is the percentage that shows how much a gambling establishment earns from each game. It’s essentially a margin that guarantees the casino’s profit. This concept is also known as the casino hold, house advantage, or casino edge.
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🔍 Why Do Casinos Have an Edge?

For a casino to operate and remain profitable, it must have a built-in mathematical advantage over players. In most games, this edge ranges from 1% to 10%, though there are exceptions. It’s important to note that this advantage applies in the long run — the more bets are placed, the more likely the casino is to secure its share.

💰 How to Calculate House Edge

For example, if the house edge is 2.5%, then with a betting turnover of $ 50,000, the casino will keep $ 1,250, while the rest goes back to players as winnings.

🔄 RTP and House Edge: The Connection

The house edge is the opposite of Return-to-Player (RTP). If an RTP is 95%, the house edge is 5%. This is why players should choose games with a lower house edge to increase their chances of winning.

🎲 Games with Low House Edge

As the saying goes: "A good bet is when winning is more likely than losing." Some games even allow players to gain a slight mathematical advantage without cheating — these are called advantage games.

🌀 House Edge in Different Games

It’s worth noting that licensed casinos cannot alter the RTP of slot machines. However, this doesn’t apply to unlicensed casinos, where fairness may be questionable.

🎡 House Edge in Roulette

There are three main types of roulette: French, European, and American. The key differences lie in the number of zero sectors and the La Partage rule, which applies only to French roulette. Here’s the breakdown of the house edge:
  • French Roulette: 1.35%
  • European Roulette: 2.70%
  • American Roulette: 5.26%

🎰 House Edge in Slot Machines

In slots, the house edge is determined by the game developer and depends on the Random Number Generator (RNG). Casino staff cannot manually change this value.