CasinoMemory explains how casino games work from two angles: the rules and the arithmetic. Every guide covers the same four things — the rules of the game, the order of a single round at the table, the payout table for each type of bet, and the house edge that comes with it. Because the structure is identical from page to page, one game can be compared against another using the same measure.
Casino games fall into two broad groups. The first is table games run by a dealer, such as baccarat, blackjack, roulette, sic bo and craps. The second is machine games whose outcome is set by a random number generator, such as slot machines, video poker and keno. Which group a game belongs to determines how much influence a player's decisions have on the result.
Casino Game Guides
The ten games below are the ones found most often on casino floors and in online game menus. Each guide covers the rules, the order of play, the payout tables, and the house edge of every bet available.
Three Things to Understand Before Playing
Nearly every costly mistake made by new players comes from one of three things that were never understood at the start. All three apply to every game without exception.
- The house edge is the cost of playing. Every game pays winning bets slightly below their true odds. That difference is the house edge, expressed as a percentage of the amount staked. A figure of 1.06% means an expected cost of 1.06 units for every 100 units wagered.
- Every round stands alone. Cards, wheels, dice and machines keep no record of what came before. A column of the same colour on a results board, or a machine that has not paid for an hour, does not change the odds of the next round.
- The number of rounds determines exposure. A small bet on a fast game can expose more money than a large bet on a slow one. Expected cost per hour is the number of rounds multiplied by the stake multiplied by the house edge.
How to work out all three is set out on the house edge and odds page.
Table Games and Machine Games
The two groups call for different preparation. Table games require an understanding of the rules and of the hand signals used at the table; machine games require an understanding of the payout table and the published return.
| Aspect | Table games | Machine games |
|---|---|---|
| What decides the result | Cards, dice or a wheel handled by a dealer | A random number generator inside the machine |
| Influence of player decisions | Large in blackjack and poker, small in baccarat and roulette | None in slots, large in video poker |
| Speed | 40 to 70 rounds per hour | 400 to 800 rounds per hour |
| House edge range | 0.5% to 15% | 2% to 30% |
| What to check first | Table rules and betting limits | Payout table and published return |
The speed of machine games makes the exposure far larger than it looks, even at small stakes. A machine taking 0.50 per spin at 600 spins per hour cycles 300 through the game in a single hour.
A Suggested Reading Order
The guides on this site can be read in any order. For a reader who has never set foot in a gaming room, the order below builds understanding fastest.
- Start with house edge and odds to learn the measure used throughout the site.
- Move on to baccarat, the simplest table game: it asks for one betting decision and nothing else.
- Read blackjack to see how player decisions change the house edge.
- Read roulette to understand the relationship between payouts and probability across many bet types.
- Study casino table etiquette before sitting down at a dealer-run table.
- Finish with bankroll management and beginner mistakes.
House Edge of the Ten Games
The table below summarises the house edge of each game on the bet that favours the player most. Other bets within the same game are often several times more expensive.
| Game | Type | House edge | Lowest-edge bet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baccarat | Card Games | 1.06% | Banker |
| Blackjack | Card Games | 0.46% | Main bet played with basic strategy |
| Roulette | Wheel and Dice Games | 1.35% | Even-money bet on a French wheel with la partage |
| Sic Bo | Wheel and Dice Games | 2.78% | Big or Small |
| Dragon Tiger | Card Games | 3.73% | Dragon or Tiger |
| Texas Hold'em | Card Games | 2.19% | Ante in the Ultimate Texas Hold'em variant |
| Slot Machines | Machine and Number Games | 2% to 8% | A machine with a published return of 96% or above |
| Video Poker | Machine and Number Games | 0.46% | Jacks or Better 9/6 played at five credits |
| Craps | Wheel and Dice Games | 1.36% | Don't pass, backed by free odds |
| Keno | Machine and Number Games | 25% to 29% | Machine keno with the highest available return |
The gap between 1.06% and 25% is not a small one. Across one hundred bets of 100 units, the difference in expected cost exceeds 2,000 units.
The Terms Heard Most Often
The six terms below appear in almost every guide on this site. The full list is in the casino glossary.
- House edge
- The difference between the true odds of a result and the payout offered by the table, expressed as a percentage of the amount staked.
- Return to player
- The share of all money staked that comes back to players over the long run. A 4% house edge is the same as a 96% return.
- Chips
- The substitute for cash at the table. Chips are bought at the table and cashed out at the cage.
- Even-money bet
- A bet paying 1:1, such as red or black on roulette.
- Side bet
- An optional extra bet alongside the main one, almost always carrying a much larger house edge.
- Random number generator
- The software that decides the outcome of machine games and online tables, tested by independent laboratories.
Beginner Questions Answered
Which casino game is easiest to learn?
Which casino game has the lowest house edge?
Blackjack played with basic strategy leaves a house edge of about 0.46%, the Banker bet in baccarat 1.06%, and the pass line in craps 1.41%. Full-pay video poker reaches 0.46% when played with the correct strategy.
Is there a way to beat the casino for certain?
No. Every game is built with a house edge, a fixed gap between the payout and the true odds. What a player can control is the choice of game and bet, and the number of rounds played.
Do progressive betting systems such as the Martingale work?
No. They govern the size of the stake and leave the odds of each round untouched. A doubling sequence ends at the table limit or at the end of the bankroll, and a single long losing run wipes out many small wins.
What is the difference between a live table and an online one?
The rules and payouts are generally identical. The differences are the far higher speed of online play, the reshuffle after every round in software-based games, and the fact that the payout table can be read before any money is staked.
What is a reasonable budget for one session?
A reasonable budget is money already set aside for entertainment and not needed for anything else. How to size it, including the link between the table minimum and session length, is explained on the bankroll management page.