Having a gamble every now and then is one of Brits’ favourite activities. Playing games like slots, roulette or blackjack is exhilarating and fun for entertainment purposes. These games also come with a good winning potential – slots and live casino games are known to pay out anywhere from a few pounds to a few million pounds! Online casino games can be profitable for the player without a doubt – but how does the casino make profits?
Casino games edge is one of the sources of income for the gambling provider. In this article, you will find explanations of how the games’ edge works or instantly try your luck playing King of the Trident slot.
What is it?
Simply put, the online casino games edge is the portion of bets which is taken in by the gambling provider as profits. As casinos are profit-seeking businesses, the house edge could be considered as a “fee” for the services they provide.
For example, there is a variable in slot games called the RTP (return-to-player). The RTP is a generally accepted guide of how the slot game performs. It is measured in percent and informs us of how much bets will be paid out as winnings over a high number of spins (usually 1 million or above). If a slot game has an RTP of 96%, that means that 96% of bets will be paid out as wins while the casino will keep 4% of those bets as profits (this applies to the games’ lifetime performance rather than a single session!).
The house edge applies to all the other casino games too. In European Roulette, the house edge is estimated to be 2.6%. This is achieved through the addition of 0 to the roulette wheel: guessing an individual number correctly will pay you x36 times your bet, despite the fact that there are 37 numbers on the wheel including the 0. It might seem that this outcome should pay x37 times you bet, but the casino pays less. This advantage over players is the house edge in roulette. In American roulette, the house edge goes up to 5.25% because of the additional “00” slot on the wheel.
Nevertheless, the house edge is a relatively small percentage which leaves a lot of room for players to win, and they do! You will find some advice on how to tackle the house edge below.
How to play smart
- Manage your funds – to make sure you are not paying too much into the house edge you should always play responsibly and only spend the amounts that are acceptable to you.
- Use strategy – calculate your odds, consider your actions, use techniques like card counting in Blackjack.
- Control the size of your bet. If you bet high, that results in a big potential reward but remember that the risk is very high too. You could easily pay your entire bankroll into the house edge by placing a few high-risk bets. On the other hand, a low bet results in a lower potential reward but you will have more tries and equally more chances of winning.
- Avoid low-return games such as slots with an RTP lower than 94%. The only exceptions to this advice are the progressive jackpot slots which normally have a lower RTP due to the chance of winning massive jackpots.
Conclusion
The house edge is the odds advantage that the casino has over the player. Every casino game has a house edge, meaning that a portion of players’ bets will be taken in by the gambling provider as profits. Normally, the house edge isn’t very high and can be beaten by players, however, losses do occur too. Play smart and be considerate to make sure you aren’t spending too much money!
