House Edge
House edge is a figure that characterizes a mathematical advantage of a casino in any given game. A house edge can be defined as the relationship of the casino’s average take to the player’s initial bet.
Let’s assume that you play European roulette and put €100 on red. After 37 spins the most probable distribution of red, black and zero looks like 18:18:1. In the end you will lose €100 and the total that you will have bet is €3700. It follows from this that a bet on red will give a house edge equal to 1/37, or approximately 2.7%. Of course, we aren’t implying that in every series of 37 spins you will lose €100. It’s not like this at all. The swings up and down can be very great indeed. But as a result of a long enough game, the instances of red, black and zero will occur most likely as described above. The expected loss will be 1/37 of the total amount bet. Such are the laws of the theory of probability.
It’s possible to show that for any bet made on European roulette, the house edge will always be 2.7%. We should note that during the game no additional bets are contemplated, while in many other games this is not the case. For example, in blackjack there is doubling down and splitting, so the player often makes additional bets. Nevertheless, the house edge is defined as the relationship of the average casino take to the player’s initial bet, and additional bets are not counted. Experience shows that, when comparing different games, this figure is more helpful and objective. The house edge differs in different games, and even for different bets the house edge can vary. The lower the house edge, the more attractive the game (or bet) for the player. As far as additional bets are concerned, they also play a specific role: it’s essential to take them into account when planning the bankroll that you will use in the game.
In the table below, the house edge for certain games in the BetVoyager casino is shown. For games where the result does not depend only on chance, but on skill as well, it is assumed that player plays without any mistakes.
Note that the house edge is arrived at while taking into account special BetVoyager rules: in a majority of games there are higher payouts when a player wins. This data is shown in the third column of the table. For comparison purpose you can look at the last column, where the house edge for many other casinos with regular game rules is indicated.
Table 1. House Edge
| Game | Bets | House Edge at BetVoyager |
Usual House Edge in other Casinos |
|---|---|---|---|
| European Roulette | 2.70 | 2.70 | |
| American Roulette | Straight up bet | 5.26 | 5.26 |
| Other bets | 5.26 | 5.26 | |
| Multiball Roulette | 2.70 | — | |
| Roulette Express | Express bets | 1.27–1.43 | — |
| Other bets | 2.70 | — | |
| European Blackjack | 0.45 | 0.45 | |
| American Blackjack | 0.27 | 0.27 | |
| Blackjack Switch | 0.12 | 0.16–0.58 | |
| Russian Poker | 0.30 | 0.60 | |
| Oasis Poker | On one box | 0.96 | 1.04 |
| On two boxes | 0.61 | 0.72 | |
| Caribbean Advanced Poker | On one box | 0.65 | — |
| On two boxes | 0.31 | — | |
| 3 Card Poker | On one box | 1.56 | 3.37 |
| On four boxes | 1.22 | — | |
| Pair Plus bet | 1.85 | 2.32 | |
| Let it Ride | On one box | 1.99 | 3.51 |
| On four boxes | 1.22 | — | |
| Slots | 1.80–2.94 | 2–15 | |
| BetVoyager’s Wheel of Fortune |
2.04 | 11.11–24.07 | |
| Catch a Wave | 0.30 | 0.30 | |
| Punto Banco | Bet on Punto | 1.24 | 1.24 |
| Bet on Banco | 1.06 | 1.06 | |
| Bet on Egalite | 4.84 | 14.36 | |
| Casino War | 1.77 | 2.88 | |
| Craps | Pass Line + Odds bet | 0.61 | 0.61 |
| Don’t Pass + Odds bet | 0.58 | 0.58 | |
| Other bets | 1.33–9.09 | 1.36–16.67 | |
| Sic Bo | Specific Double bet | 1.85 | 2.31 |
| One Number bet | 1.85 | 3.70 | |
| Other bets | 2.78–12.50 | 2.78–16.20 | |
| Keno | 1.41–2.82 | 5–30 |
It’s important to note that you can play all games with equal odds at the BetVoyager casino, i.e. games with no house edge. To be more exact, the house edge for such games is within ±0.1%. The flip side of the coin is a 10% commission that is taken from a player’s net winnings during a withdrawal of funds from the portal. You can find the details here. Nevertheless, the numbers show that games with no house edge give the players the best chance to win in comparison with usual casino games, and for a whole series of games the player’s chances increase significantly.