Table games are where the odds are smallest and best understood. Every figure on this page is arithmetic, not opinion: it comes from the rules of the game, and it holds at any casino dealing those rules, including ours.
The Variant Matters More Than the Name
Two tables can carry the same name and cost very different amounts to play. Roulette is the clearest case: a European wheel has one zero, an American wheel has two, and that single extra pocket nearly doubles what the game costs over time. Nothing on the felt announces this — you count the zeros.
The same is true of blackjack, where the payout printed on the table does more to your odds than any decision you make during a hand. It is worth thirty seconds of reading before the first bet.
| Bet | House edge | What decides it |
|---|---|---|
| Blackjack, basic strategy | Around 0.5% | 3:2 payout, dealer stands on soft 17 |
| Baccarat — banker | 1.06% | Commission on winning banker bets |
| French roulette, even money | 1.35% | La partage returns half on zero |
| European roulette | 2.70% | One zero |
| Casino poker games | 2–4% | The paytable, which varies by title |
| American roulette | 5.26% | Two zeros |
| Baccarat — tie | About 14% | An 8:1 payout on a rarer outcome than it looks |
House edge is the share of total stakes a bet keeps over a very long run. It describes the bet, not your session, and it applies to every round independently of what came before.
Blackjack
Played correctly, blackjack is the cheapest game in any casino. Correctly means basic strategy — a fixed table of the mathematically best action for every combination of your hand and the dealer’s upcard. It is not a system for winning; it is the way to stop giving away more than the rules already take.
Three rules do most of the work on the edge, and all three are visible before you sit down.
- Blackjack pays 3:2. A table paying 6:5 for the same hand costs roughly one and a half percentage points more — a different game wearing the same name.
- The dealer stands on soft 17. Where the dealer hits it instead, the edge moves toward the house.
- Fewer decks favour the player, all other rules being equal.
- Insurance is a losing bet in almost every situation, whatever the table offers for it.
Roulette
Roulette has no strategy in the blackjack sense: every bet on a European wheel carries the same 2.70% cost, whether you back a single number or red. What changes the price is which wheel you sit at.
French roulette, where we offer it, is the friendliest version of the game. Under the la partage rule an even-money bet loses only half its stake when the ball lands on zero, which halves the edge on those bets to about 1.35%. Same wheel, same layout, half the cost, purely because of one line in the rules.
Betting systems — doubling after a loss and the rest — do not change any of this. They redistribute when wins and losses arrive; they cannot alter the price of a bet, and table limits stop the doubling long before the mathematics would.
Baccarat
Baccarat is the simplest game on the floor to play well, because there are only three bets and one of them is obviously the best. Banker costs about 1.06% after commission, player about 1.24%, and the tie about 14%.
That third number is the whole strategy. The tie pays 8:1 and looks generous next to two even-money bets; it costs more than ten times as much in expectation. There is no skill in baccarat beyond not taking it.
Casino Poker
In casino poker — Casino Hold’em, Three Card Poker and their relatives — you play against the dealer rather than against other players, and the house banks every hand. Edges usually land between two and four percent depending on the title.
The paytable is the variable worth checking. Two tables of the same game with different payout schedules are genuinely different games, and the side bets that sit alongside the main wager are almost always the most expensive thing on the felt.
Software or Live
Every game here also exists as a live dealer table with a real dealer and real equipment. The rules and the mathematics are identical; what changes is the pace. A software table deals several times faster than a live one, and because the edge applies to every round, speed multiplies what an hour of play costs.
One more practical difference: table and live games usually count little or nothing toward bonus wagering. If a bonus is active, check the weighting on the bonus rules page before sitting down — turnover completed on the wrong games is not turnover.
18+ or the legal age where you live. Every game carries a house edge; play only with money you can afford to lose.
Questions
- Which table game has the best odds?
- Blackjack played with basic strategy at a table paying 3:2, at roughly half a percent. Baccarat on the banker bet is next at about 1.06%. Roulette depends entirely on the wheel — one zero or two.
- Is the tie bet in baccarat worth taking?
- No. It pays 8:1, which looks generous, but it carries a house edge around 14% — more than ten times either of the other two bets at the same table.
- Do betting systems work on roulette?
- No. Systems change the pattern of wins and losses, not the price of a bet. Every spin is independent, and the table limit stops any doubling sequence well before the mathematics would rescue it.
- Do table games count toward bonus wagering?
- Usually only partially, and sometimes not at all. The weighting for each category is stated in the terms of the offer — check it before playing tables with an active bonus.
- What is the difference between the software and live versions?
- The rules and odds are the same. Live tables run at the dealer’s pace, which means fewer rounds per hour and usually higher minimum bets.