Ensuring you get the best casino odds can be difficult if you’re unfamiliar with the games available in an online casino. Picking between different blackjack, roulette and poker tables can often be intimidating for first-time players – after all, how are we supposed to know the difference between them?
It’s only natural to feel a little confused at first but there are smart ways to make a choice when it comes to selecting a casino game to play. And most of us will gravitate towards the games that offer great payouts.
Depending on the type of casino player you are, you’ll either thrive off small, regular wins or have your eyes on a jackpot windfall.
And there are two ways to discover the odds in a casino game. One is the house edge and the other RTP. They effectively show the same thing but have a different way of displaying the info. Yet what’s important to note is that both will show you how much, on average, you stand to win playing a certain game.
What Is A House Edge?
The house edge is the advantage the casino has over the player in a given game. Every casino game has a house edge, otherwise it would not be profitable to the casino. They need the profits to help fund the building, the staff and the improvements and maintenance required to operate a casino. Even online casinos provide games with a house edge – but competition among operators means there is always pressure to reduce that advantage, in order to incentivize players to their site.
That’s not to say you can’t beat the casino! The house edge is an average taken from all casino players, so some will be successful and win a hoard of cash, while others will unfortunately win less than they wagered.
What is RTP?
RTP stands for Return to Player and is a different way of displaying the same info as house edge. It works like this: the RTP percentage is the amount you can expect to win back from your bet total. So, if you bet $10 over 100 spins on an online slot machine with a 97% RTP, the average player can expect $9.70 return from their session. Of course, some players win more and some win less than this average.
Games With Best Odds For A Payout Ranked
When we think about payouts, we often forget that there is a sliding scale of payout size. For example, a casino game may advertize that it pays out on average one in every four hands or spins – yet what if the payout is just 5% of your stake? Does that sound worthwhile to you?
Of course not. Because of this, if you’re a player seeking big payouts then you may need to wait longer than someone who targets regular, but smaller, wins.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the house edge – and therefore the casino games with best odds – in some of the most popular online tables…
Slots: 85% to 99% RTP
Online slots have the potential to offer huge payouts if you strike lucky. However, finding a slot machine with a 99% RTP is very difficult. Slots generally float around the 95% RTP mark, and a little bit of research will likely unearth 97% games.
It’s also worth checking the volatility of a chosen casino game, as some will offer regular but small payouts, while others may not pay out for many spins until a sudden coin dump is triggered!
Roulette (European: Single Zero): 97.4% RTP
Roulette is a classic game of luck where the house edge is inbuilt into the game. Indeed, it doesn’t have the best odds of a payout but there are ways to influence your RTP. The main one is to pick a game that offers Single Zero (European) blackjack, rather than the ’00’ game. Doing this reduces the house edge.
Roulette payouts can be huge and the game is more likely to create windfalls of chips compared to low-odds games like baccarat.
Craps: 95% to 98.6% RTP
Craps is all about pure luck and smart players will not stray much further than the Pass/Don’t Pass lines. These bets have a 1.4% advantage to the house, whereas other bigger bets the edge widnes to 5%.
Why this is important is because the Pass/Don’t Pass wagers provide low but regular payouts, while those riskier bets are rewarded with bigger but rarer returns. Yet when it comes to the best odds for a payout, the Pass/No Pass is the smart move.
Blackjack: 98.5% RTP
Playing one-on-one against the dealer is what blackjack is all about – and of course the house has a narrow edge over the player. But that doesn’t mean you can’t reduce that advantage to as little as possible.
Card counting is frowned upon and all-but impossible to do online, but deploying a blackjack cheat sheet to guide your bets will give you the best chance possible of nailing a big win. Being smart will keep your blackjack odds as high as possible.
Three Card Poker: 98.5% RTP
Another card game where you play against the dealer, three card poker is the ideal game for newcomers to an online casino who want to learn about hand strengths. And it also has a favorable house edge compared to other casino games. You’re likely to win a lot of small payouts in three card poker and the only advantage the dealer has is that they cannot play if their hand is worse than Queen High – and when this happens bets are returned.
In terms of regularity of payouts this is a great game. However, you’re unlikely to ever trigger a big payout unless you’re betting large sums of money or playing on a table that offers casino bonus bets, which in themselves may carry a low RTP.
Baccarat: 98.9% RTP
The casino game with the best odds for a payout is Baccarat. That’s because the house edge on the Banker bet is as narrow as 1.1%. Theoretically you will win $98.90 for every $100 you bet – and of course lucky players will earn much more.
Baccarat is a straightforward game where you bet on the Banker, Player or Tie from a basic card draw. The Player bet has a smaller RTP while the Tie bet is throwing money away.
Of course, baccarat odds may provide the most regular payout in the casino but that doesn’t guarantee you big wins. The challenge, then, is to calculate what risk you’re willing to withstand in order to chase greater rewards. Bets such as single numbers in roulette and hardway in craps naturally offer larger payouts – but wins are much less frequent.
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