House edge
The ‘house edge’ is the advantage a gambling operator has on every bet you make.
Casino games, such as Roulette, Blackjack, Punto Banco, etc, are bankers games and, as such, are games of “unequal chance”. The nature and structure of these games therefore gives an advantage to the casinos (the house). This is called the house “edge”, and it is the percentage a casino would retain, on average, from each hand or spin.
For example, if you bet £1 on the toss of a coin, the chances of heads or tails are 50/50. If you win and are paid £1 in winnings, that would be the true odds. But if the ‘house’ or casinos only paid you 90p in winnings it would be keeping a house edge – in this case 10p, or 10 per cent.
In games such as blackjack, the house has an advantage because the dealer wins all bets from losing players, even if their own hand has losing cards. A player will only win if their own hand beats the dealer’s.
In other games like roulette, the house keeps its edge by paying less than the true odds for a particular bet. The true odds for a single roulette number to win are 36 to 1 because there are 37 compartments on a wheel. A casino actually pays winning bets at odds of 35 to 1.
The house edge means that the longer you play, the more likely you’ll end up losing. The house wins in the long run.
All casinos must provide leaflets making players aware of the house edge and to help them understand the way it works.