Jili168 Ranks Casino Table Games by House Edge
Casino table games charge very different house edges, and the figure depends on which bet you place: baccarat banker, blackjack basic strategy and roulette each sit in a different band.
- Baccarat — banker bet
- With the standard 5% commission taken on a win, baccarat's banker bet carries a house edge of about 1.06% — the lowest figure on this page among bets that ask nothing of the player.
- Blackjack — basic strategy
- Played with basic strategy on a fair rule set, blackjack's house edge sits well under 1%, though the exact figure moves with deck count, whether the dealer stands on soft 17, and whether a natural pays 3:2 or 6:5.
- Baccarat — player bet
- The player bet carries no commission, and that costs it: its house edge runs to about 1.24%, noticeably higher than banker despite backing hands dealt from the same shoe.
- Dragon Tiger
- One card to each side, higher card wins: Dragon Tiger's main bet sits close to a coin flip at roughly 3.7% on a standard eight-deck shoe, with the real danger concentrated entirely in its tie.
- Roulette — European single zero
- A single zero gives the house one extra pocket out of 37, which works out to a 2.7% edge on every even-money and straight-up bet at a European wheel.
- Sic Bo — small and big
- Betting small or big on the three-dice total carries a house edge of about 2.78%, close to European roulette, though Sic Bo's specific-triple side bets run far worse than either.
- Roulette — American double zero
- The same wheel with a second zero pocket doubles European roulette's edge to about 5.26% — nearly twice the cost, for an identical bet and payout.
- Baccarat — tie bet
- Paying 8:1 on a result that lands far less often than 8:1 implies, baccarat's tie carries a house edge near 14.4% — the single most expensive bet ranked on this page.
Casino table games do not all charge the same price for a seat, and the gap is bigger than most players expect. A bet’s house edge is fixed by its own rules, not by the studio and not by luck, and the eight bets below are ranked from what costs the least to what costs the most. Every figure below states the exact bet it belongs to, because “roulette” or “baccarat” alone tells you nothing until you say which wager you mean. The live casino online pillar covers what changes when any of these eight is dealt by a person instead of run as software; nothing below does.
Casino Table Games Ranked by House Edge
| Rank | Bet | House edge |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baccarat banker (5% commission) | ≈1.06% |
| 2 | Blackjack, basic strategy, fair rules | Under 1% |
| 3 | Baccarat player | ≈1.24% |
| 4 | Dragon Tiger, main bet | ≈3.7% |
| 5 | European roulette (single zero) | ≈2.7% |
| 6 | Sic Bo, small or big | ≈2.78% |
| 7 | American roulette (double zero) | ≈5.26% |
| 8 | Baccarat tie | ≈14.4% |
Blackjack’s figure can land either side of position 1 depending on the table’s own rules, which is why it is listed second rather than first: deck count, whether the dealer stands on soft 17, and whether a natural pays 3:2 or 6:5 move that single line more than any other bet here. Dragon Tiger’s main bet and both roulette wheels sit within about two points of each other — close enough that the exact order among them matters less than knowing none of them beats the top three.
Grouped into three bands:
- Under 2% — blackjack with good rules and both baccarat bets.
- Roughly 2.7-3.7% — both roulette wheels, Sic Bo’s small and big, and Dragon Tiger’s main bet.
- Double digits — the tie bets, covered below.
Roulette Rules: Why the Zero Doubles the Edge
Roulette rules are almost identical between the two common wheels: the bet types, the payout odds on each one, and the way chips are placed all match. The one difference is the number of zero pockets, and that single pocket is the entire gap.
- A European wheel carries 37 pockets, numbered 0 to 36; a straight-up bet on any single number pays 35:1.
- An American wheel adds a second zero pocket, 38 total, without changing that same 35:1 payout.
- Even-money bets — red or black, odd or even, high or low — pay 1:1 on both wheels, so the extra pocket returns nothing for the extra risk.
That one pocket takes European roulette’s 2.7% edge to 5.26% on the American wheel — nearly double, for the same bet and the same payout.
Why the Tie Bets Are the Trap
A tie bet’s payout looks generous next to everything else on the table, and that is exactly the design. Baccarat’s tie pays 8:1 while a tie actually lands close to once in every eleven hands, and that gap between the offered payout and the true odds is where its roughly 14.4% house edge comes from. Dragon Tiger runs the same trap on its own tie: because a single-card draw ties far less often than either side wins outright, its payout is set high enough to look tempting and low enough to still favour the house heavily.
| Tie bet | Standard payout | House edge |
|---|---|---|
| Baccarat tie | 8:1 | ≈14.4% |
| Dragon Tiger tie | A high multiple, set well above even money | Its own, separately worked edge — see the Dragon Tiger game page |
How Table Rules Change Blackjack’s Number
Blackjack is the one game on this page where a player’s own decisions move the number, and where the table’s own rule set moves it even further. Played with basic strategy on a six-deck shoe where the dealer stands on soft 17 and a natural pays 3:2, the house edge sits well under 1%. Swap that payout to 6:5 and the edge more than doubles — the single biggest swing on any blackjack table, and one that has nothing to do with how well anyone plays.
- Deck count — more decks in the shoe generally raise the edge slightly.
- Dealer stands or hits on soft 17 — a dealer who hits raises the edge.
- Natural blackjack pays 3:2 or 6:5 — 6:5 is the single biggest jump on this page.
None of those three lines shows up in a quoted RTP figure unless the table states its own rules alongside it, which is why how to play baccarat, step by step and the live casino online pillar both name the bet next to every figure they give.
FAQ
Which casino table game has the lowest house edge?
Blackjack, played with basic strategy on a favourable rule set, typically runs well under 1%. Among the bets that need no skill at all, baccarat's banker bet sits close behind at about 1.06% once the standard 5% commission is worked in.
Does strategy change the edge?
For blackjack, yes — basic strategy is what gets the edge under 1% in the first place, and playing off it gives back a meaningful share of that. For baccarat, roulette, Dragon Tiger and Sic Bo, no strategy changes the number: the bet is fixed the moment it is placed, and the edge belongs to the bet, not the player.
Why is the tie bet so expensive?
Because it pays as though it lands far less often than it actually does. Baccarat's tie pays 8:1 while landing close to once in every eleven hands, and that gap between the true odds and the offered payout is where its roughly 14.4% house edge comes from.